Mirror Eye
by peppermint quartz
Summary: Kakashi's relationship with bite happy girlfriend Aya Fukuda may be jeopardized by a mysterious mission. Feat. Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru, cameos of others, along with a bunch of OCs. T rated changing to M in Chap 25.
1. Mirror Eye Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Characters: Mainly Kakashi, Iruka, Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru, with cameo of previous oneshot OC and debut of new OCs.

Summary:

Kakashi is content with his relationship with the bookstore beauty, Aya Fukuda, until Team Seven is lured into accepting a mysterious mission. Can his stable relationship survive or will Kakashi fall into temptation?

By the way, it's gonna be a long story, so perhaps you'd like to be updated :)

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Kakashi Hatake waved idly at Iruka as he passed by the academy. There was a class waiting behind Iruka, all young and expectant, chattering and giggling.

"Field trip, Iruka?" called Kakashi when he noticed all of them carrying backpacks and had a dark green band around their left arm.

Iruka glared the class into subdued silence. "Yeah, new movie. It's a reward for their good results this term. You know, the Seven Priestesses?"

Kakashi paused mid-stride. "The Seven Priestesses?" He racked his brain for a moment, currently cluttered up with junk information about the Icha-Icha series and his bite-happy girlfriend. "Oh, them... Ah well, see you around, Iruka."

"The Seven Priestesses!" Naruto was excited. He bounced onto the bench where Sakura was perched. "Wonder what the story is about?"

Sakura stretched and yawned a little. She was getting used to the training sessions, but the strain on her physical stamina remained. Thankfully Sasuke had bowed out of their post-mission meal. She said irritably, "What are you expecting, Naruto?"

"Weeeelll... I mean, the whole village is excited about it. Maybe there's like, really huge monsters, or, or maybe they have superpowers, or maybe they have wings or somethi- OUCH!!"

"Don't be stupid! It's a historical epic, not some robot-futuristic thriller!"

"You guys wanna go?" Kakashi said from behind them. Both Sakura and Naruto jumped. He had two pieces of paper in his hand. "I got a couple of free passes."

_Well, they were meant for Aya and myself, but she's not interested._

Naruto brightened. "Really? Kakashi-sensei are you giving Sakura and me a chance to, y'know..."

"You two can go by yourselves. The movie's starting in an hour." Kakashi thrust the tickets to Sakura. "Since everyone is going, you two might as well broaden your horizons."

"Kakashi-sensei, how come you're not-" Sakura began but stopped when Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. "I HATE when he does that!"

"I'm not," said Naruto, snatching the two slips of paper away. "Let's go!!"


	2. Mirror Eye Chapter 2

It was close to midnight before he made his way home. Aya had made it very clear that she resented being 'underground'. To be fair enough, she was one of the most eligible females in the village, and practically every single male chuunin and jounin above twenty years old were trying their luck. Kakashi just didn't want to be committed yet. He was in a dangerous line of work; she was a bookstore owner. A shinobi's life was unstable and dangerous. If she were known to be related to him, enemies might target her to get to him. Aya had said she was prepared for that possiblity, but Kakashi had to be honest with himself: _he wasn't ready_.

Before he turned in, the white-haired jounin triple-checked his spartan apartment for booby traps and recording equipment. Tonight, there were only five hidden cameras, a definite downward trend in Kakashi-spying. His face blushed fiercely for a moment: the first time with Aya, here in his bedroom - did the voyeurs catch it on tape? Was it circulating in Konoha even as they argue about revealing their affair?

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The moon showed a sliver of its face. There was a light breeze, wafting gently through the bedroom. Kakashi suddenly woke up from his deep sleep, although he took care to keep his eyes closed and his breathing relaxed.

He kept his bedroom window locked ever since the incident with the ferret, lemon cheesecake and metal ruler.

"I know you're awake, Hatake-san." The voice that spoke was low and melodious, and oddly familiar. "You're a jounin, so this should not be a challenge to your skills."

Kakashi opened his eyes. Then he blinked to make sure that he _had_ opened his eyes. He could see nothing, not even the tip of his nose. He asked, "Is this genjutsu or ninjutsu?"

"Now why should I tell you that? I'm here for other reasons," said the mysterious visitor.

Kakashi could hear the breathing of more than one person: there were three breathing rhythms in the dark. He was outmaneuvered before they had started. He quietly began forming seals below his quilt.

"I _can_ see you though, so please put your hands by your sides. If we'd wanted to kill you we'd have done so by now," the voice sounded amused. "Please listen. you will receive a summons tomorrow. There is a B-rank mission. We need you to accept it."

"If I refuse?"

"You will not refuse."

"You don't know that."

"You will not refuse now that I've spoken to you. You will want to find out what it is about. There is a seed of curiosity in every ninja, Hatake-san, although perhaps yours may be a little more difficult to find than others."

"If I tell Godaime-sama, she will-"

"-tell you to stuff it and accept the mission. Believe me, Hatake-san, and please, accept the mission willingly. It will be better for all involved."

"I'll consider it."

The voice was silent for a while, before saying quietly, "I look forward to meeting you again, Hatake-san. Good night."

Kakashi counted to fifty before the blinding darkness lifted. He ran his left hand through his silver-white hair. The clock showed 0325. In the cool darkness there was a hint of lilac in the air. He got up and locked the windows again. Just as he prepared to settle into bed he paused.

"Meeting me _again_?"


	3. Mirror Eye Chapter 3

The eagle screamed into the false dawn.

Tsunade yawned hugely as she half-walked, half-lurched into her spacious office. There were dark circles beneath her eyes. She glared half-heartedly at the tottering piles of paperwork on her desk.

"Bloody hateful things..." she mumbled as she settled into her seat. She hefted the first stack in front of her and began perusing the text.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in!" Tsunade called, glad for any interruption from paperwork. There was so _much_ of it, never-ending... no wonder Jiraiya was so eager to volunteer her.

Guy and Anko walked in to receive their latest assignments. Tsunade frowned. "Kakashi is late again?"

"Isn't he always?" said Anko non-committally. Glancing through the thick folder, she grimaced. "Godaime-sama, these kinds of infiltration jobs... I really think I'm not suited to them."

"You're loud, brash and sometimes impulsive. Precisely," said the fifth Hokage, "why you are the perfect person."

"Because you're so obvious therefore you can't possibly be the one, yes, Godaime-sama?" Guy teased. He browsed through his assignment. "Hah. I'll be back in less than a week, this is such an easy task! I'll use this chance to practice my new special technique!"

"Care to share?" Anko snapped.

Guy smiled enigmatically, his thick brows furrowed. "You'll see at Kakashi's and my next clash. I'll take my leave, Godaime-sama!"

As Guy sprinted out he collided into the masked figure of Kakashi.

"Sorry about the tardiness," apologised Kakashi while Anko followed Guy, muttering all the while. "I didn't get enough sleep last night as I was visited by a mysterious woman-" He was cut off by the thick folder hurled at him by the irate Tsunade.

"You were the one the clients asked for specifically, so you'd better not be tardy when you're meeting them!" snarled the Hokage. Goodness, her head hurt. Possibly from the generous amounts of wine last night with the lead actress. Whatever possessed her to participate in the post-premiere party, she'd never know. Great, a hangover was just what the doctor ordered. And she was the best godsdamn doctor of Konohagakure!

Ignoring the brass band pounding in her mind, she continued, "You're free to decide if you want to go it alone or with a team. The payment differs if you take a team, of course, but the risk is lower and you'll have some company."

There was a letter within an envelope stuck inside the folder.

Kakashi sat on his favourite rock, near the memorial stone. He read the notes and reports provided by the client and the clerks of the village. Knowledge was a weapon that weighed nothing but could well be the deciding factor between life and death.

"Even so, this may be a bit much," mused Kakashi. He had read the entire stack except for the letter. Sighing, he slit the envelope open, and slid the thin letter out.

_'Thank you for accepting the mission. Looking forward to see you again soon. Your servant, the mysterious visitor.'_

So... there was someone brilliant in the group. Kakashi smiled beneath the mask as he addressed Obito.

"I'll be off for some time. Watch over Aya for me, all right?" He stood up and dusted himself off. Before he left he placed brushed his friend's name with his fingers and said, very softly, "But not when she's naked."

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Naruto and Shikamaru strolled down to the western side of the village. Naruto was listening to the singing of the birds, not that there were many. Shikamaru, as usual, wore a scowl at the general troublesome-ness of things, but somehow today he seemed more thoughtful.

After some time, Shikamaru asked, "What did you think of the movie?"

"I didn't understand most of it," said Naruto offhandedly. "I mean, popular culture isn't really my thing. Sakura was more interested though." He paused a beat. "You weren't there, Shikamaru. Why are you asking?"

"From what Chouji told me I think there's going to be trouble. That's why I asked you."

"Huh?"

"If someone like you can detect the clues, then trouble's gonna come way faster, that's all. But now I think there should be a breathing space."

"Oh," said Naruto. After a few paces he stopped dead in his tracks and sputtered, "What did you mean, _someone like me_?!"

Shikamaru shrugged. He continued on to the local grocery store to get the pre-paid foodstuff for his mother. It was irksome to have to travel this far just for two carrots and five beets, but his mother had a withering stare enough to fry seventy acres of underground tubers. He called for Naruto to follow to get some special tofu from the shop down the street.

"You can take half of the tofu to Ichiraku Ramen, I heard it's made from really special beans."

"Really? Thanks, Shikamaru!"


	4. Mirror Eye Chapter 4

Aya ignored the ringing of the doorbell.

There was only one person who came into her bookstore everyday anyway, and right now she wasn't in the mood to speak to him.

"Hi honey."

She continued counting the number of _Mastering Shougi_. Pretending he wasn't there was no easy task, but she managed admirably.

Kakashi's shoulders slumped. "All right, what's wrong?"

She tried to move past him, but the aisle was taken up by his lean form. He had the advantage of height as well, so she was forced to look up at him to glare at him. "Move out of my way. You're blocking the light." She pushed past him.

"Come _on_, Aya, you still angry about yesterday?"

"You're the genius shinobi, you figure it out. Now, I'm just a humble storekeeper and I need to take stock, so if you aren't helping then get the hell out of my store."

Kakashi ran a hand through his white hair. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean what I said... not really. I'll tell them, I swear."

Aya's back was rigid as she noted the number of _Cooking with Ichiraku: Anyone can Cook Great RAMEN!_. She didn't even turn to look at him. Kakashi had to content himself with looking at her bare neck. _Hmmm... the marks are fading. Time perhaps for a new one._

"Honey..." The jounin was very glad to know his three were out with Gai's team. If they ever heard him wheedle... "Honey, can't we kiss and make up?"

"I don't WANT to make up," snapped Aya as she whirled around. She slammed the clipboard she was holding onto a tottering stack of jutsu-introduction books. She pouted for a moment as Kakashi stepped closer to his girlfriend before she broke into a wry smile. "But I'm fine with the other part."

Her fingers pulled the mask from his face as he bent down and kissed her.

He nipped at her lower lip gently, knowing she like the sensation of teeth. She teased him with tightly closed lips before yielding to the passion of the moment. He drank her in, his tongue exploring her mouth and her willing imitation. She suddenly buckled against him, and his arms tightened to take her weight. They backed against a shelf, but neither broke apart when a stack of books came crashing down.

After what seemed like an eternity, they came up for air. Aya blinked and pressed her lips together for a second. Then she nailed Kakashi with a look.

"What's wrong?"

"What? What do you mean what's wrong?" _Damn, she's good. She'd make a great interrogator, though I don't want her to have to kiss before getting the information._

"You're kissing me like... like you're never seeing me again or something." Her eyes, her lovely amber-golden eyes narrowed. "Tell me the truth."

"I've to go on a mission tomorrow. Could be weeks before I see you again," explained the white-haired jounin.

Aya stood up and put her hands on her slim hips. "Why?"

"Escort mission. Secret."

Aya pouted again. "Fine. Be that way." She yanked him to his feet, adding mysteriously, "Wait a sec. Don't go anywhere."

"Sec. Over."

"Done. Let's go."

"Where?"

"To your place, stupid. If you're gonna be away from me for a while, I'm gonna make sure you don't get tempted by any babe you happen to meet."

The trip back was faster than they usually took. Kakashi was still frenching Aya when he summoned Pakkun out of the corner of his mouth. Panting, he settled Aya on his lap.

"Eh, Boss, what's up?"

Kakashi pulled away from Aya reluctantly. "Help me with the routine check, will ya?"

"Fine, fine..." Pakkun didn't grumble much but just scented the rooms. "Nada, boss. Only your bedroom's lilac scent- mmph..."

"Lilac, huh. There was another girl." It was a calm statement, but there was real fury behind her words. Aya pulled away even as Kakashi sent Pakkun off to wherever he was supposed to be. "Alright. I'm gone. I'm not gonna be just another scratch on your headboard."

"Aya, wait!" He tried to grab at her as she stormed her way out of his apartment. He wished he could chase after her, but right now there was a bodily reaction that hadn't yet abate – if anyone saw him going after a girl in that condition...

_Dammit._

"Is there going to be an apocalypse or something?" Sasuke was in sarcasm mode that morning.

"Good morning to you too, Sasuke-kun." Kakashi was still annoyed with himself and his girlfriend. There. He'd thought it. _Aya's my girlfriend._

"SASUKE-KUN!" squealed Sakura from half a mile away. Thankfully that drew attention away from the unusually punctual Kakashi. Naruto was yawning in a corner – it was five in the morning after all.

When the team finally settled, he gathered them around. "This is an escort mission. We are to escort and protect the caravans on a circuitous route: through various towns and cities of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind."

"Coming with us is Shikamaru-kun. Godaime-sama asked me to take him along as on-the-job training. So for now, he's acting team leader, and I'm just a consultant. Questions?"

Shikamaru strolled out of the lead caravan. "Mornin' Kakashi-sensei, guys."

"Call me Kakashi. As chuunin you're on equal footing with me."

"Nah, I'll stick with sensei. Changing terms now is too troublesome." Shikamaru was wearing his customary scowl, but there was something else in his expression. Eagerness? For what? "I've checked with them. They want a Northeast to Southwest trip, because the dates are in sequence. We have to make Each trip in two days, so the caravans are not that heavily packed. With a regular momentum, we can manage this escort trip, no problem.

"The only obstacle they mentioned to me is that one of their ladies is blind and will need extra care. She's in the middle caravan, along with three others. The first caravan carries the manager and main supplies, the last caravan the other passengers.

"Sakura, you and I will take flanking positions. This will narrow our scope of duties since neither of us are long-range jutsu users, but we can depend on our wits to determine actions to take immediately. Sasuke, you and Naruto take lead: I can trust you to be vigilant, and I know Naruto is hyperactive. When he's on duty, you can rest. Plus you can be trusted to react appropriately to different circumstances. Kakashi-sensei, please take the rear. With your speed and experience you'll be able to help any of us at any time, and you'll also have the widest range of vision.

"That's it. Check your equipment, top up if necessary, this is a five-week trip with only one definite resupply station in Sunagakure. Questions?"

Kakashi smiled. Shikamaru would make a great leader someday. He was along, basically, as insurance, since all of them were adolescents. Also, he had to be around Sasuke in case the seal acted up. Sighing, he noted the first light of false dawn creeping over the horizon.

"We gotta go soon, Shikamaru-kun," said Kakashi, deferring to the much-younger boy's leadership. He flushed a little, and a small grin crept onto his face.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yup. In thirty minutes we're moving out. If you need to go stock up, go now."


	5. Mirror Eye Chapter 5

The trip had already taken a week and a half, and they had made three different towns already. The response in each town was the same: screaming hordes of fans, multiple marriage proposals, some stalkers, and the ending was invariably Team Seven (with Shikamaru) throwing out crashers and unwelcome intruders.

They were escorting the lead actresses of the hit movie, _The Seven Priestesses_.

Shikamaru was shaping up well, Kakashi was pleased to note. Sakura had an easygoing relationship with the ladies, especially with Toshi Yamamoto, the blind lady. Apparently everyone thought she was acting blind, but she was a real visually-handicapped person. It didn't prevent her from being a knockout though. In fact, all the lead actresses were just plain gorgeous.

Toshi was tall and willowy, almost as tall as Kakashi himself. She had long, silvery blond hair that reached past her shoulders, and very fair skin. Her blind eyes were pale green. There was a joke that she was a _kappa_, but in truth she had an ethereal quality that brought to mind spirits and ghosts.

The main lead was the aptly named Hoshiko Kikuchi, a voluptuous woman in her mid-twenties. She was aloof and cool towards everyone, but that was perhaps because she was a multiple-award winner.

Her sassy niece, Dai Kikuchi, was a pert redheaded teenager who was developing a serious crush on Shikamaru, if Kakashi was reading things right.

Reina, an orphaned girl adopted by Hoshiko, was quiet enough to rival Hyuuga Hinata. For the first five days, the shinobi never caught sight of her, until she was forced by Hoshiko to step out of the caravan.

Her opposite was Aisa Mori, a brilliant but wisecracking seventeen-year-old. Naruto was instantly smitten with her dark red hair and sea-green eyes, to the point Sakura was feeling insulted.

Fujiko and Umeka, twins with dark blonde hair and pale blue eyes, seldom left each other's side. They also had a disconcerting habit of finishing each other's sentences.

Sasuke was much fawned on – as usual – and Naruto's brash but optimistic nature also won him some friendship among cast and crew. Shikamaru and Kakashi kept well away from them, though. Why Shikamaru wanted to stay away was not clear, but Kakashi knew his own reason for keeping himself distant: Aya.

Kakashi tried, at each village, to call Aya to apologize and to explain, but she ignored all his calls. All he got was the answering machine, and he was frustrated enough his temper was wearing thin.

"You seem perturbed."

Kakashi woke from his reverie. "What? Oh, nothing."

Toshi smiled. "Your energies were scattered and your mind was wandering. What's wrong?"

"Personal problems. Nothing big."

"Girl trouble."

Kakashi smiled wryly beneath his mask. He tried to change subject: he did not want his students to hear anything about his girl-related problems. "How did you know I was distracted?"

"Your footsteps were uneven in stride and force, and your breathing was deep but irregular. Also I can read auras – yours is a murky brown with splashes of amber-gold."

_The color of her eyes, especially in the dingy light of the store._

Toshi was waiting for a response, Kakashi realized. "Umm, that's quite a skill you have."

"I was trained as a witch when I was very young," said Toshi evenly. "But witches are even less tolerated than shinobi with bloodline limits."

"Too true." Kakashi remembered some witch hunts he'd seen in his ANBU years. The looks of the victorious righteous scared him more than the worst shinobi criminals. "But the lineage never faded, did it?"

"I risk my life in telling you this," admitted Toshi. Her voice was suddenly soft and confiding. "But now we hide in the open; we let them see what they really want to see."

Kakashi suddenly understood. "The special effects – those were your real powers."

"The seven priestesses. We are the remainders of what was once almost as revered as the way of the ninja."

Kakashi's slow walk behind the last caravan put him in perfect position to speak with Toshi. She was clearly in a mood to confide, and he was interested in hearing what she had to say. More importantly, she had forgotten about the girlfriend issue.

"Witchcraft was one of the ways women could find a place in the world, beyond housewives, prostitution and kunoichis. We provided services that men usually couldn't. And we knew how to channel the elemental forces." She suddenly directed a blank gaze at Kakashi's face. "Just like Shinobi."

"I suppose so."

"We didn't learn combat skills though. I guess that was our mistake," she said softly. "But how can we take life from someone intentionally? We were sworn to protect, to heal, to grow, to learn. It was a duty."

"We are duty-bound too," contributed Kakashi. "But in our line, sometimes it is necessary to kill for the greater good."

Toshi's mouth twisted in a mockery of a grin. "Perhaps. But our intention was to foster cooperation. Instead we brought fear and misunderstanding."

"People fear the unknown and the strange. That's why we had to have shinobi villages autonomous from the daimyos."

"But your village has people who are not trained in the Way, yes?"

"Yes." _Aya is a civilian_.

"That's the difference – people know you have to be trained, there are exams for viewing and all. Whereas for us the power is inborn. We only learn how to channel the power, we can't build on it."

Kakashi said nothing. Although there was an upper limit to a shinobi's strength – witness the number of genins and chuunins who can't make it past that level - there was truth in her words. You can become stronger and better, you can increase the amount of chakra you possess.

"Sometimes a witch has her own spell that no one else can learn. No matter how powerful how connected, a spell can be so unique that it dies out with one person. My mother was one of those."

"What spell was that?"

"Eternal Sorrow, she called it."

"Sounds dire."

"A person's essence is removed and sent into the ether. He or she remains aware of time, of space, of ages passing... but all the changes that a person's soul has to go through, the cycle of reincarnation and stuff – will bypass the enchanted person entirely. The only way is to repent fully, every single misdeed. And some folks just don't have that in them."

Kakashi walked on in silence. _I don't think I can endure it either._ "How come your mother knows what happens with the spell?"

"Because she was the previous recipient. The recipient carries the spell with them after their repentance."


	6. Mirror Eye Chapter 6

"Hey, Naruto."

"Glurmmph."

"Wake up, Naruto."

"S'what?" Naruto turned over in his bedroll and snuggled further down. Ice water suddenly splashed down his face. "EeeYOW!

"You are the hardest person to wake up in the entire world!"

Naruto sputtered awake, completely alert from his impromptu bath. Standing over him was a tall, stocky figure, someone he hadn't met for weeks, with a horizontal scar across his face.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!"

"How're ya?" said Iruka. "Look, I can't stay for long, just came by to pass a top-secret message to Shikamaru and Kakashi. And to pass you this."

"Wassat?" Naruto ripped into the packaging. It was a book. "Uh…. Iruka-sensei, you know I read only shinobi-related books..."

"This one is a recipe book from the Ichiraku Ramen boss. It's for your birthday, baka."

Naruto stared at Iruka for a long time. Then he burst into a bright grin and hugged the man tightly.

Iruka ruffled the boy's hair affectionately. "All right. Hope you'll cook for me soon, eh?"

"Sure thing!"

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Sakura placed the cherry - the crowning glory - gently on the whipped cream.

Sasuke and Shikamaru leaned back and, in Shikamaru's case, wrinkled their nose.

A tall man walked into the room, followed by three women. It was Kakashi, Dai, Aisa and Hoshiko.

"Sorry I'm late, I was trying what in the world is that contraption?" blurted Kakashi, stopping in his tracks. He caught Sakura's hurt expression and tried to amend his words. "It's really... innovative."

"It looks like cream and cherry on _ramen_," said Aisa, disgusted. "Can you say eeuuw?"

Hoshiko cracked a rare smile. "I don't know, Aisa." She caught Kakashi's eye. "Cream can be _very_ fun."

_I can't believe she just said that._ Kakashi looked away and, casting for a different topic, asked, "What's that supposed to be?"

"A birthday thing. For the idiot." Sasuke half-smiled. Evidently he was imagining Naruto's face when he saw the birthday _ramen_.

Shikamaru was edging away from Dai, who was in turn pressing closer to him.

"If we're going to interrupt a birthday celebration, perhaps the team leader can drop by later?" Hoshiko pulled Dai up from her seat. Shikamaru breathed a small sigh of relief. Hoshiko smiled at the team. "You guys enjoy yourselves. We've a manicure session before the premiere tonight."

"Hey," said Naruto, stepping aside for the three ladies to move out of the booth. He smiled at Aisa, who deigned to acknowledge his presence with a flicker of her eyes. Naruto blushed and watched them walk out of the restaurant. "Why did you call me down here for so early in what the fuc–" He cut himself off at the poisonous glare from Sakura. "What is that thing?"

"It _was_ your birthday _ramen_," said Sakura. She almost snarled as she pushed her way out from the seat. The pink-haired girl flounced out of the booth. "You know what? I'm done being insulted. I'm going to ask if I can join in the manicure session too."

Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru looked at each other in resignation. Kakashi shrugged. "Happy belated birthday, Naruto."

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_I wish I could just give up_. He let the phone ring for another dozen times before he hung up. The premiere was starting and he was acting as Toshi's escort. The previous media frenzy in the earlier town had dragged a deranged fan out of the woodwork. Sakura had done her share of guarding earlier in the salon, so now it's his turn.

"Oh, you look so good together!" gushed Dai. Then she pouted. "Why can't Shika-kun be MY escort?"

_Shika-kun? Shikamaru's going to go nuts when he hears it._ Kakashi coughed. "We can't all be seen, Dai-san. Besides, Sasuke is handsome enough, isn't he?"

"No." Dai didn't even bother to look at the Uchiha, all suited up and dressed to charm. _Sakura probably went into conniptions when she heard he was escorting Dai. And if she sees Sasuke now, she'll probably faint._

_What would Aya do if she saw me now?_


	7. Mirror Eye Chapter 7

Shikamaru braced himself before the hotel room door. Kakashi stood behind him.

"Here goes," muttered Shikamaru. He rang the bell.

The door opened and Hoshiko Kikuchi smiled at the guests. Until she noticed that it was Shikamaru.

"Why is he here?" she demanded of Kakashi. Shikamaru scowled. _Hello, standing right here._

Kakashi frowned slightly. "He's the team leader. I'm just here as consultant. Wait – you weren't at the briefing?"

"What briefing?" Dai's face appeared from behind the lead actress. "Shika-kun!"

Shikamaru's face darkened with a cross between a flush and a blush. "Dai-san." He turned his full attention to Hoshiko and said, "What did you want me here for?"

"Dai, attend to Shikamaru-kun. Update him on where we're headed next and stuff."

Kakashi was distinctly uncomfortable when Shikamaru was led into the room, while he and Hoshiko stood without. She was dressed in a bathrobe, hair still damp from the shower. The fabric of the robe clung to her curves, and Kakashi found it hard to keep his eye on her face.

Hoshiko tilted her head. "I'm sure a smart man like you know what I'd originally intended. Why did you bring him along?"

"Actually, he brought me along. He IS team leader, you see." Kakashi felt it was better to skirt the first issue altogether. If he wasn't already involved with Aya, perhaps he might have played along – it wasn't as if he hadn't done this before on other missions. _But that was B.A. Before Aya._

Hoshiko smiled, her hips angling towards him. "Like you're not really in charge? I've seen you. I've observed you. And by now I think you realize that I'm not one to put in the effort unless I think there's something in it for me."

"I think Shikamaru and I should go now. SHIKAMARU!"

"I'm here. Let's go," Shikamaru was a little mussed but, Kakashi was pleased to note, not disheveled. Dai must have come on too strong for him.

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"Told you it wouldn't work that way."

"At least we know they're for real, unlike the few we've tested before."

"I dunno... maybe you're not his type."

"Like you are?"

"How 'bout we all try? If he resists all our advances, then we can set the stage for the grand finale."

"I'm not gonna do it."

"Why? Oh yes, you were -"

"Um-hmmm. I'll just set things in motion then, from the other end."

"Okay."

"I'm pulling out too. It's the other one I'm interested in."

"We're not having fun here, girl."

"All the more I should keep the kids distracted, eh?"

"All right. So, five of us versus one of him. Should be interesting."

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Shikamaru stared morosely at his tea. Naruto waved a hand before his eyes.

"Stop it," Sakura chided. "It's not like he's concussed or something."

Sasuke quirked a slight smile. "Did Dai corner you?"

"Sasuke," Shikamaru began. Then he just sighed. "Shut up."

He looked out the window. There were few clouds overhead. That meant they were drawing near the desert.

Kakashi strolled into the hotel's restaurant. "Early morning meetings. Not my favourite. Morning, all."

"You're late." There was no rancor in Sasuke's voice. "But earlier than usual."

"We are on a mission, Sasuke-kun. Anyway, Shikamaru-kun?"

"Yeah. Tsunade-sama sent us – me and Kakashi – a top-secret message via Iruka-sensei. There's gonna be a slight change in our game plan."

"What do you mean?" Sakura was instantly alert.

"Apparently there's somebody really out for them. Every town or city they've been to, even during filming, has had two to three mysterious deaths. Only in Konohagakure was this pattern disrupted. The number of deaths isn't enough to raise a mob, but a trail of destruction behind them? Something's wrong about this picture."

"A stalker, perhaps?" Sasuke interjected. "Konohagakure is difficult for civilians to operate in without raising the Hokage's attention."

"Maybe. But here's what we do: we keep it operating as an escort mission, but we also do some digging on our part. Iruka-sensei is going to those towns to check, hit up rumors. He'll keep us updated."

Naruto frowned. "Isn't he supposed to be in the academy?"

"All shinobi must go into the field at least twice a year," said Kakashi. "This way he or she won't lose their training."

"Why Iruka though?" asked Sasuke. "Wouldn't ANBU be better?"

"He has an honest, teacher-y face. People would want to talk to him."

Kakashi sniffed. "You're right, Shikamaru-kun. On our side, we remain alert for any such news. Think mutilations and exsanguination."

Everyone except Naruto nodded. Kakashi sighed softly. "Means cut-up people and loss of a lot of blood, Naruto."

"Oh. Then why didn't you just say so?"


	8. Mirror Eye Chapter 8

Finally it was nearing the last stretch. One more town (where the convoy already was), then on to Sunagakure, and the mission ends.

But the five had not yet found out who or what were causing the deaths.

Iruka had sent periodic updates. Firstly, the dead were young people, male and female. Secondly, they were loners who kept to themselves, so their deaths didn't create any uproars. Thirdly, half of them were orphans.

These were skimpy notes, and Iruka knew that. He was upset with himself that he had nothing more substantial to send in the way of Team Seven, but that was how it turned out: nice young men and women, kept to themselves, some were orphans.

Kakashi, Shikamaru and Sasuke pored over the information. They also took turns to investigate in whatever town they happened to be in. Sakura, being the only female, had the enviable task of shadowing the actresses on their daily routine, which inevitably would involve spas, manicures and pedicures, facials, dress fittings, specially prepared meals and extensive exercising 'to keep us in shape'. Naruto, not spectacularly gifted in the brain aspect, was the muscle behind morning patrols and half of the round-the-clock guard.

On second thought, maybe the boys had an easier job.

"Hey."

Kakashi looked up from his notebook. "Hey, Fujiko, Umeka. I didn't realize -" _Damn, they really move quietly. I wonder if I can release the sharingan to check._

"Guess you're thinking why" "we move so silently." The twins smiled lazily at him. There was a glint in their eyes. Kakashi recognized it – Hoshiko had it the last time he was cornered by the beautiful and seductive actress.

Some people might be turned on by the idea of a _menage a trois_ with twins, but Kakashi was no Jiraiya -sama. He liked it one-on-one, preferably with him on the girl. _So call me traditional. But how do I give them the brush off without it being too much of a brush off?_

"I hear Sakura calling me," he managed as Umeka undid a button on Fujiko's shirt. "Gotta go."

Fujiko smiled as she nibbled her twin's ear, maintaining eye contact with Kakashi all the while. "Sakura is with Dai and Reina right now, painting their toenails and clearing the caravan to move on tonight."

"Everyone's busy, Kakashi-san," continued Umeka, "except for us."

The two girls advanced on the jounin, who shot out of his chair. _Bad idea_, Kakashi noted, as he now stood at least a head above both of them. He could see the small wisteria blossom tattoo on Fujiko's left breast, her pale pink nipple flashing him. He gulped and tore his eyes away, only to encounter Umeka's

plum blossom tattoo on her right breast. _Now why can't such situations happen when I was sixteen? I could sure use it then. Or better still, have these situations happen to Gai. I bet he needs someplace to vent all that 'youthful energy'._

_All right, plan B it is._

"You're absolutely right. I am ashamed. _Ashamed_. I should be pulling my weight and so, I must go. Bye!"

"He is BLIND, I" "swear. We were practically disrobing before him and he just pushed his" "way out from between us to go load caravans!" The twins were sulking, their eyes flashing with humiliation and fury.

"Easy, girls," Hoshiko chided. "You came on even stronger than I did. Plus, he looks like the kind who prefers being in charge. The dominant, not the submissive."

"But the submissive is the one with power, Hoshiko," interjected Toshi softly.

The other females in that caravan looked at the blind woman. Hoshiko tilted her head curiously, and ran a finger down the side of Toshi's face. "We'll see how it goes, Toshi, after Aisa tries her particular brand of conquest tomorrow."

Toshi smiled demurely. "Anything you say, Hoshiko. You're our lady."

Sasuke was feeling the heat.

He had tried to hide it – and was succeeding thus far, else the idiot would have picked up on it way earlier than all the rest – but Sakura was looking better each day. And thus he spent more time looking at her than at the road, which was the job he was sent to do.

Thank goodness for the tall collar of his shirt, and the loose robes they now wore to keep the sand out of their clothes.

And another girl had caught his attention. Aisa Mori. She was much like him, except he was not nearly as arrogant as she was. There was something in her eyes that attracted him.

Loss, pain and hatred, perhaps. Aisa wasn't an easy person to get to know.

And, as usual, Naruto liked the same kind of girl that he sort of, perhaps, might have liked. It was irritating, to say the least. _Stupid pipsqueak. At least he has excellent taste in women._

He was also feeling a little insulted by Dai. For years he'd been the darling of young kunoichi. Although he hadn't liked their pawing and their fawning, it wasn't hateful to be the object of admiration and affection. And now a girl who completely ignored him for a slacker. And a slacker who got promoted before him! Insult to injury, that was what it was.

Although it was night, the heat was still rising from the stone around the oasis where they had camped. It was his turn on watch. He sighed and cast his mind back to the chuunin exam. The examiner had said he was of chuunin standard, so why was he still stuck in genin missions? He was at least as good as that Nara was. His thoughts turned, as ever, to the man he once called brother. When Sasuke had heard of the chuunin exam, he'd thought – naively – that it would lead him nearer to vengeance repaid. But he was stuck, still stuck in Konoha, revenge still a far off goal. His mind swam in circles of hate and confusion and bitterness.

So, when Aisa Mori stepped stealthily out of the caravan to head for the lake where the convoy had camped beside for the night, Sasuke didn't notice.

"Ah... what a blessing to relax after a hard day's trek!"

Shikamaru and Kakashi agreed with Naruto. Sasuke was stuck with watch duty, but Kakashi meant to relieve him asap. They had a half-day's forced march to make it into Sunagakure tomorrow. Factor in the desert heat and the knife-sharpening sandstorms, it would be a miracle if they made it before evening.

Showbiz was a killer.

So wrapped up in their comfort, the three shinobi did not really notice the slim girl slip and fall into the lake, until they heard the splash and the scream.

"What the hell-" Naruto began, but his sensei was already diving to rescue Aisa Mori from drowning in the deceptively clear water.

As he hauled the girl out, he noted that she had a bottle still in her hand. _Perfect. She comes out for a drink, she ends up half-dying._

"She all right?" Shikamaru wound a towel around his lower torso. He handed Kakashi one as well.

Kakashi watched Aisa throw up water. "She's fine. Just a scare is all."

"Thank you," Aisa managed, her voice raw and trembling. Naruto quickly pulled on his pants and threw his towel around her. She accepted it gratefully, but her eyes remained on the sopping wet Kakashi. "Thank you for saving my life."

"You're welcome," said the jounin. "Let's get you back to the caravan, shall we? Naruto, help her back."

"No problem."

Shikamaru caught the poisonous glare she darted at Naruto when he helped her up. The blonde didn't notice, as usual, but when Shikamaru looked at Kakashi he saw the tightness around his eyes.

"You saw it too, huh," Kakashi stated very evenly. Shikamaru nodded. Kakashi snorted. "They really think I'm dumb or something. She slips out to get water in the middle of the night? When there are shinobi around to help her? And that splash?"

"Too loud, yeah. She probably jumped in so we'd hear."

"And a scream no one bothered about," completed Kakashi. He looked at Shikamaru. "I can't wait to get them off our hands."

Shikamaru remembered Dai, and then he remembered another kunoichi. "Yeah, they're really too troublesome to handle."


	9. Mirror Eye Chapter 9

Aisa Mori did not hide her contempt and humiliated fury the next day. As the troupe trudged across the sands, Kakashi and Shikamaru kept well away from her. Sasuke, still in point, was sulking more than usual for the tongue-lashing he received that morning from Kakashi. Sakura was angry at Kakashi for putting Sasuke down, and annoyed that Sasuke had slipped up on his perfection, and very irritated at Naruto's fawning over Aisa who treated him like dirt.

So, in a simple phrase, no one was a happy camper that day.

Privately Kakashi was glad. It meant less distraction and, with the pervasive foul mood, none of the leading ladies would attempt anything. He hoped.

By now the original three caravans had expanded to five. Three carried passengers – the actresses, their makeup and hair stylists, the manager who does very little beyond organizing press conferences, and the shinobi. One carried clothes and accessories (this was Sakura's personal favorite) and one carried the assorted gifts and stores the convoy needed. It was already the third week and they still had some distance to go before reaching their next destination. Having switched their horses to camels was helping a little, but the pace was a lot slower than Kakashi had budgeted for. Shikamaru was grumbling about the lack of shelter and of clouds. Which kind of made sense, since he was a shadow user, but kakashi's nerves were wearing very thin. He hoped he could get in a phone call again that evening.

Before they made it to the next oasis or town, the lead caravan drivers called out a sandstorm warning. The yellow-golden haze far off was moving swiftly nearer. Everyone leaped into their nearest caravan. By a stroke of luck (_good or bad?_) Kakashi was alone in the same one as Toshi.

"You seem troubled."

Kakashi snorted. "Are you going to start every conversation between us with a comment on my emotional state?"

"Very likely." She smiled apologetically at the ninja. "I heard about Aisa last night."

"Hmm." _Noncommittal, neutral response, that's the key._

"She warned us to stay away. I gather it turned out badly," continued the blind woman as the camels and the camel drivers stopped the rolling of the caravans. Kakashi could hear, above the approaching roar, the camels settling down to face the hazard.

"Aisa has always been headstrong," Toshi remarked into the cushioned silence of the caravan. Kakashi grunted. She smiled wryly, "Very few men have rejected her, you know."

"No, I don't. And why is everyone making a play for me? Besides you, thus far."

Toshi laughed lightly. "How crudely you put it! Kakashi-san, you're the only adult male here that's vaguely attractive. There's something about magic that you don't know."

"Enlighten me then. We've got all day."

"Magic is similar to channeling a stream, a river of power. Once we start accessing that river, the channel doesn't close completely. When we use it, the power flows through us – we're just conduits."

"Not seeing the relevance to my predicament."

"I'm getting to the point. We have to keep using magic, Kakashi-san, because of who we _are. _It's not like jutsus, which we can choose not to use. We have to keep _being _conduits or else the power becomes - dammed up – if that's the proper phrasing. And it makes us irritable, vulnerable and incredibly sensitive to external stimuli.

"During filming none of us had much of a problem, since we were expending almost too much magic daily with the special effects and all. But now, on the road, in public – we can't really afford to risk using magic where unfriendly eyes may see."

"You seem to cope fine," said Kakashi.

Toshi laughed again. "I use magic non-stop, Kakashi-san. How else did you think I can move about without assistance? Some people use sticks, some use echoes, I use magic. I have an outlet – a small, continuous outlet – that the other girls don't. The magic makes them horny because the power needs someway to escape, Kakashi-san. You just happen to be a potential recipient of power."

Kakashi did not move. After a moment he smiled beneath his mask. "The sandstorm's abating. We're on the move."

It was nearing midnight when they pulled into the first Suna village of the tour. Shikamaru, notwithstanding his fatigue, stood watch. He wasn't surprised when Kakashi joined him.

"News?"

"Same old."

"Odd, that. Did anyone – you know – in the last few stops?"

Kakashi paused. "That's something we didn't consider. After Konohagakure, it appears that the stalker, whoever he or she was, stopped."

"Iruka said as much in the last letter. He's circling around to our last stop to wait for us there." Shikamaru wrapped the cloak tighter about himself. Was this the desert night? No wonder she was snappish all the time – Konoha must have felt like a sauna to her.

Kakashi lounged against the wall. It was a pose that Sasuke had unknowingly picked up, he realized, and grinned. The boy was really far too similar to himself.

The two stood watch until Naruto and Sakura took over two hours later.

"Thanks, Aisa. They really fell for it."

"Don't mention it. _Really. _Although, why am I always the one to humiliate myself?"

"Because you're the only one who won't stay angry. Now go to sleep."


	10. Mirror Eye Chapter 10

"Come on, Aya, pick up the phone," Kakashi urged in a soft whisper.

They were finally in Sunagakure, and Baki was kindly allowing him to use a private line once Kakashi explained it was a personal problem.

The kids were off with Temari and Kankurou. Sasuke and Naruto had wanted to see Gaara again, but Baki had explained – in a very roundabout way – that Gaara was still under observation.

"He's being treated for psychosis, actually," Baki had confided when the genins and a suspiciously motivated chuunin were led off to whatever sights Sunagakure had to offer. "He hadn't lost control before, and there's something very different about him when he returned."

"He's willing to go through the treatment?" That was what had surprised Kakashi.

Baki sort of smiled. "Yeah, he's shocked even me. But the council are pragmatic people. We've located the previous Kazekage's dead body, and now we need a new one."

"Gaara's very young, though," Kakashi said as he sipped the fragrant tea. Baki had only shrugged. "But then, you don't really have much choice, do you?"

"He'll be a proper Kazekage though, count on it," said Baki as he poured another round of tea. For someone of his appearance and stature, Baki was remarkably adept in the complicated and refined art of tea. Kakashi nodded appreciatively at his hospitality.

Baki had then mentioned Shikamaru.

"What of Shikamaru?" asked Kakashi.

"He seemed different than before, on the chuunin exam."

"He is. He's made chuunin, too."

"Those were the days, eh?" Baki and Kakashi had grinned with shared nolstagia. Chuunin exams seemed so huge then, but now, as jounin and specialists, they had seen far too much for these tests to matter.

Kakashi coughed. "I suspect Shikamaru's change is less to do with becoming a chuunin and more to do with his coming here."

"That's what I thought." Baki leaned forward. "I've seen all three of them grow up. If that boy has siblings, perhaps he'd make a good addition to Sunagakure."

"He's an only child, alas," said Kakashi. "But Konohagakure will always welcome new blood into our ranks."

The two jounin grinned at each other with complete understanding.

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"She's ready."

"You're sure? I don't want this set in motion for nothing."

"Geez...you think I'd stay in that hellhole for nothing? Anyway, she's safe and primed."

"Good work. After tonight's premiere, do you think?"

"Sounds good to me."

"And the kids are out of the way, so it's all great."

"How many more days?"

"Four to the new moon."

"All right, we should have just enough time. Stage is set, girls. Time for the curtain to rise."


	11. Mirror Eye Chapter 11

"You sure you don't want a doctor?"

"It's just too much sun," said Toshi weakly. "I think I'm too pale to take the sun here."

"You are." Kakashi watched Sakura place a towel on the actress's forehead. He turned to go, but reminded Sakura to take good care of Toshi for the evening.

It was past midnight when they finally returned to their lodgings.

Sakura was napping in a chair beyond the bed, Kakashi noted. He half-smiled, half-sighed. "Sakura-chan," he prodded his student's shoulder. "Wake up. Time to go to bed."

"Huh-wha?" Sakura opened bleary eyes. She flushed when she saw her teacher looking kindly down at her. "I'm fine, I'll keep watch."

"It's okay. I'll take over. I slept through the movie anyway, feeling very rested now." That was the truth; he'd seen the movie so many times he could recite some of the dialog backwards.

Sakura tried to say something else, but was cut off by Kakashi's stern glare. "Sakura, go on and rest. We still need you tomorrow. Plus, I need your chair."

"Okay," said the pink-haired girl quietly. "Anyway, she's been sleeping for quite a few hours. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Got that. Now go."

As he took the seat Sakura vacated, he looked over at the sleeping form. She was a little darker from the sun, but her long blonde hair shone in the weak moonlight.

"You can stop pretending to sleep now, Toshi-san."

"I wasn't," replied the woman muzzily. "At least, I wasn't until you came in."

"Sorry about that. You feeling all right?"

"Just dizzy, really. Could you get me a glass of water please?"

Kakashi poured a glass of water and brought it to the bed. Toshi was sitting up, or some version of up; she was swaying slightly. Kakashi sat beside her to help her drink. When she stopped, he said, "You're going to the doctor immediately."

"What? Why?"

"You can't even sit up, Toshi-san. And your skin's clammy, and you have a rising temperature. Don't argue."

"... Fine." Toshi slumped back onto her pillows. "I don't have the strength."

Kakashi dampened her brow with the same towel Sakura had used earlier. Toshi mumbled a thanks.

"You should sleep now."

"Can't," replied the woman. "Maybe we can talk, and perhaps I'll drift off to sleep."

"Okay," complied Kakashi. "What about?"

"Technical stuff, so as to bore me completely... I know. The difference between jutsus and witch spells."

"Well, jutsus require chakra from the ninja."

"Spells... power from the source."

"And then we have to train and learn from scrolls."

"We do the spells then learn how we do it."

"There's nijutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu."

"We have transmutation, conjuration and illusions."

"Then there's bloodline limits..."

The door swung open slowly.

Kakashi opened his eyes to see a very familiar person standing in the doorway.

"Aya!"

Aya Fukuda was standing there with an indecipherable expression. She wanted to say something, stopped, turned, and ran off.

It was then Kakashi realized he was naked, in bed, and was holding an equally naked but sleeping Toshi.

"What the hell- AYA!" Kakashi hastily pulled on his clothes and his mask. He couldn't believe what was happening – why was his girlfriend here, in Sunagakure, and what was he doing in Toshi's bed, and why the hell were they naked? But first he had to get hold of Aya.

He saw her, her curls dark dancing in rhythm to her frantic passage through the alleys. He leaped over the roofs to land just in front of her. She collided straight into his arms.

"Don't touch me!" she cried out and pulled away. Her eyes – her lovely amber eyes that he'd been dreaming of the past few weeks – were red, her face streaked with tears.

"Aya, what you saw – I swear nothing happened!"

She just looked at him, her breathing shallow from her crying and her running. She waited for a long beat; he didn't dare to say anything.

"I came here to apologize," Aya whispered. It was not what Kakashi had been preparing for; his explanations died in his throat. She swallowed again before continuing, "I came to apologize, for acting like, like a jealous twit. For a week I was angry, but you kept calling and leaving messages, and I wanted to say sorry, but I didn't know where you were or how to find you, and I went to Tsunade-sama and begged her, and she relented and gave me a pass to come here and wait, and I waited for two weeks just to say sorry to you..."

She trailed off, her breaths becoming regular. "So right now, I'm saying that I'm sorry. Sorry for acting like a jealous idiot, sorry for having seen what you do on your 'missions', sorry for thinking we had something – had something special, for being so damn blind... I'm sorry, I'm sorry I fell in love with you, sorry for being so incredibly dumb -"

"Aya, I- there's nothing between us-" Every apology she made hammered a nail into his heart. He didn't know what to do, what to say.

"Yeah, I realize that now. I just wished you'd make that plain sooner - "

Kakashi swore at his blunder. "Aya, honey, that scene you saw – it wasn't - I don't know how it happened, we were just talking and then I woke up and I saw you -" He ran his hand through his very tousled hair. He knew he wasn't being very convincing, but he had to try. "I have no feelings for her, I don't understand why I was in bed with her – it's not what you think, I swear – You know I'm telling the truth, dammit!" He punched the alley wall with his fist.

Aya stepped back from him. Her eyes were rimmed with pain and confusion. "I don't know anything anymore. I don't – I never thought – I need to be somewhere. Else. Somewhere I can-"

Kakashi closed his eyes, his breathing heavy. He was confused and angry and hurt and disoriented. "Aya, we can figure this out – AYA!"

He called after her retreating back. As he took after her she merged into the milling crowd around the special stage for the actresses.

"Dammit," swore Kakashi softly. He slumped against the wall and slid to the ground. What the hell just happened?


	12. Mirror Eye Chapter 12

Team Seven had never seen a Kakashi so furious.

They were having breakfast in the hotel restaurant, a simple omelet and ham breakfast set, when he stormed in. He had dashed straight up to the rooms, and then they heard a deafening smash.

Shikamaru hadn't needed to tell them to hurry.

What they saw was a door off its hinges thrown down the hall, smashed into splinters. Kakashi was glowering at Toshi, and the other actresses had emerged from their rooms to watch in silence.

Naruto wanted to call out, but three hands blocked his mouth.

"What did you do?" Kakashi was not yelling. His whisper was more than threatening enough. "What did you do to me?"

"I did nothing," said Toshi. She was trembling; she'd probably faint if she saw the look in Kakashi's eyes. "We were talking, and then you kissed me and then we... we made love."

"That's not possible."

"I've got bruises that say otherwise."

The youngsters looked at each other, embarrassed. The other actresses glanced at them, and then exchanged looks among themselves. Hoshiko stepped forward bravely.

"Kakashi, Toshi-chan, maybe you should talk elsewhere, private."

"Shut up." Kakashi's words were like a fist. "What did you do, Toshi?"

"I. Did. Nothing."

"What happened?" It was Temari, Kankurou and Baki coming up the stairs. Kankurou said, "The innkeeper came by babbling about – holy crap."

All three of them froze as they felt the waves of killing intent emanating from the white-haired jounin. Baki swallowed and stepped forward. "Kakashi-san, let's go somewhere else."

"Why?"

"Because your team's scared senseless of you. And there are unfriendly ears about."

Kakashi turned a fraction. "I can cut those off for them."

"You're a shinobi. Control your emotions." Baki stepped forward again, his kunai at the ready. "That's the kind of leadership you show, all right?"

"Right now I'm no leader."

"Right now you're a jackass. You're on our turf, Kakashi-san, and I don't want this to escalate." Baki hefted the weapon in his hand. "Don't force our hand."

Kakashi whipped around to face the three Suna ninja and his own team. "Fine. Then let me have a room with this woman, alone for five minutes."

"Torture isn't your style, sensei," Shikamaru spoke up. His voice was not as steady as he hoped it would be. "Wasn't that why you quit ANBU?"

"It's like riding a bloody bicycle," Kakashi sneered. "It'll come back to me, style or no."

Naruto suddenly broke free from Sakura and Sasuke's hold. He lunged at Kakashi and gave him a good, hard kick to the ankle. He was about to turn and yell at his sensei when Kakashi slammed a fist into Naruto's midriff, driving him into the wall.

Baki darted forward, an uppercut aimed at Kakashi's jaw. When the Konoha jounin turned to block the attack, Baki pulled the blonde genin away from the wall and tossed the unconscious kid to Kankurou. The two men then executed two perfect roundhouse kicks and skidded apart.

The exchange took less than ten seconds, and already Naruto was down.

"Hurting your own people now, Kakashi?"

"I'll hurt a lot more than that until I know the truth."

Shikamaru pulled Temari close and whispered in her ear. She frowned and shook her head, but Shikamaru silenced her argument with a look. Sasuke and Sakura then bent forward to listen to the instructions from Shikamaru. They nodded and followed the Suna ninja down the stairway.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Baki were exchanging blow for blow. Kakashi was not wearing his vest or the protectors for his hands and forehead, so Baki's blows were hurting him more than his were hurting Baki.

Suddenly Kakashi froze, his fist stuck in midair.

Shikamaru snarled, "That's enough, Kakashi-sensei."

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"All right, what happened?" Baki asked the bound shinobi. Shikamaru was recuperating from the effort of capturing the powerful jounin. The teenager now rested on a sofa.

Kakashi exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry," he said after a lengthy pause. "I completely lost control."

"Not something you plan to do often, I hope," Shikamaru replied. "I can't deal with your chakra strength if this is gonna be a habit."

"You're not answering me." Baki untied Kakashi. He handed the other man an iced beer.

Kakashi took a long swig of the beverage. "My girlfriend dropped by, saw me and that woman in – compromising situation - I don't even remember doing anything – then I tried explaining to Aya, but she wouldn't listen, plus I don't know what really happened..." He trailed off. Shikamaru's eyes were narrowed, Baki's were contemplative. "I swear I didn't do anything to her, or with her. But Aya just...took off, and I just saw red. Dammit!"

Baki tapped the tabletop. "Aya who?"

"Aya Fukuda."

"The bookshop owner?" Shikamaru exclaimed.

Kakashi nodded, but managed to extract a promise from Shikamaru that he wouldn't tell.

Baki phoned someone, and the three waited in the study, silent.

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Gaara came, along with his siblings.

"Did you find her?" Shikamaru asked Temari, but it was Sasuke who answered in the negative.

Gaara gave a little bow to Kakashi. He had a grudging respect towards the man who taught Naruto and Sasuke both. "I'll be looking through the night. It'd be good if you could give me a visual description though."

"About five foot three, tan, long dark hair with loose curls, and amber-golden eyes."

"Could be tricky," acknowledged Gaara. The Konoha shinobi exchanged looks – they recognized the description.

Kakashi glared at the too-innocent four now staring at the ceiling. "If news of this gets out I'll..."

"Now's not the time, Kakashi-san," interrupted Baki. He looked at his own team. "We'll organize search teams. Shouldn't be hard, since she's a civilian. You guys have to be on your way, yes?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru said, swinging off the sofa. He gave the Suna siblings a small smirk – a smirk that one of them returned. "But as team leader I have a command to issue and a request to make."

He turned to address the room at large. "Hatake Kakashi-san, you're no longer part of this mission." Turning to Baki, he asked, "Can we borrow Gaara, Kankurou or Temari until we reach the borders of Fire Country?"

"Feel free," Baki said. "I think Temari would be the best choice, since she'll make up the lack of long-range fighters in your crew. It'd be better to have another girl with you."

Kakashi said nothing. After his explosive confrontation with Toshi he doubted his emotional control would last another day with the actresses.

When all of them filed out of Baki's study, Shikamaru held the jounin back. "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei-"

"Don't be. I'd have done it myself."

"You can use the time to search for her too."

"Yeah, I will." He waited until Shikamaru was at the door. "Thanks, kid. You're doing fine."

"You're welcome."


	13. Mirror Eye Chapter 13

Twenty-seven and a half hours.

Kakashi hadn't stopped for anything more than a drink. He'd been asking around the inns, hotels, hostels... no news at all.

It was as if she had disappeared into thin air.

He sighed and kicked a trash can down an alley. The noise was, fortunately, unnoticed in the bustle of the streets. Kakashi had sent off the convoy last evening– from a high vantage point – and continued his search. Shikamaru and the team should have met up with Iruka by now.

_Who am I kidding? She's probably gone back to Konoha._

For the first time in many years, Kakashi Hatake felt like giving up. He sat down and buried his face in his hands.

"Hey."

"Iruka!" Kakashi exclaimed when he looked up. "Why are you here?"

"Looking for you guys. Shikamaru said he'd be meeting me today, around 1500 hours but he never turned up. Thought I'd drop in here instead, since Tsunade-sama gave me a pass."

"They left last night, Iruka." Kakashi brushed dirt and dust from the seat of his pants.

"They?" Trust a teacher to notice little language details.

Kakashi shrugged, as if he didn't care. "Shikamaru took me off the mission. Long story, but don't reprimand him. I'd have done the same if I were in his shoes."

"All right. But I'd like to know what happened."

Kakashi outlined the tale to him. Although they were not close enough to be more than acquaintances, Iruka radiated a field of confidence and trustworthiness that Kakashi believed in.

Iruka kept very still – probably a trick learned in the classroom – and pondered. Then he asked, "This may be very stupid, but did you send your nin-dogs to track her? And them?"

"That's... not stupid at all. I'm the one who's stupid." Kakashi chided himself as he bit his thumb and summoned his pets.

"Hey boss," wuffed all eight.

"Hey, boys. I need two of you to track my girlfriend," he ignored the snigger, "two to track the lilac scent – Pakkun, you'd need to be one of this pair – and the other four to spread out and find the caravans."

"Lilac scent?" Iruka asked when all the dogs had dispersed and the two shinobi were vaulting across the rooftops.

The jounin ducked a tall signpost. "Yeah, the night I argued with Aya someone paid me a visit."

Iruka stopped dead in his tracks. Not realizing this, Kakashi had to wait four roofs away for Iruka to catch up.

"You're seeing Aya Fukuda, the babe in the bookshop?"

"Tell the world, why don't you?" Kakashi groused. "I don't even know if she's ever speaking to me again, after yesterday morning's fiasco. Disaster, even."

"What happened, really?"

"I told you, I don't know," snapped Kakashi. They dropped to ground level. The sun was moving towards its zenith and the village was already baking.

Iruka sighed a teacher's patient sigh. "I meant, what can you remember? Before the whole 'I woke up naked and my girlfriend's here' bit."

"Well, I'd taken over from Sakura, because she was so tired from the long day and I felt rested. That woman woke up, asked me to give her a drink, then we started talking about illusions and genjutsus, about the tools we use in our profession and in her craft, technical stuff that...would make her...sleepy."

Kakashi's voice slowed as he replayed the night's events. "Wait... I couldn't have fallen asleep, I was alert and ready for night watch."

"There's something else you mentioned – illusions and genjutsus. Why?" Iruka prodded.

Kakashi frowned. "Toshi Yamamoto said they were witches – what do you know about witchcraft and witches, Iruka?"

"Only a handful of true witches around these days. Initiates need to call on a deity or something to access the source of magic, the, the primeval river or something like that. More accomplished spellcasters and witches can access the source directly. They have affinities to specific elements – much like us – but their power is external. Our chakra is formed within, magic is accessed from without."

"So, it's not an open link, an ongoing conduit?" Kakashi tried to recall as much of his few conversations with Toshi as possible.

"No way. They're, like, how do you say... If we keep using our chakra, we exhaust our limits, yes? As far as I understand it, witches can't keep the access channel on all the time: they'd burn up, overload their systems."

Kakashi had a faraway look in his eyes after Iruka's impromptu lecture. He suddenly cursed. "Dammit, I've been so blind!" He glared at the shop across the street. "She lied – of course she lied! She had to explain why all the girls were coming on to me... Stupid!"

"Who?"

"The woman who got me into bed with her. I believed everything she said – Shikamaru and Sasuke fell under their spell too, dammit. None of us caught on! Not even when they were so obvious about snaring me!"

"Why you though?" inquired Iruka quietly.

Kakashi opened his mouth to answer, then realized he had no answer. "I don't know."


	14. Mirror Eye Chapter 14

"Hey boss, caught the scent."

"Which?"

"Your girlfriend, boss. Check it out."

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"Guys, this is where I saw her last." Kakashi and Iruka stood in the dank alley. Iruka patted Kakashi's shoulder.

The two dogs looked at each other. "Beg pardon, boss, but you didn't specify searching from where," Bull huffed, his bulldog wrinkles merging into a facial shrug.

"I know," Kakashi scratched behind his ears. "My bad. You know what? Go help the other four. I'll take it from here."

When his ninken had disappeared, Kakashi leaned heavily against the wall. Iruka bit his lower lip.

"No trace beyond this point." Kakashi cracked his knuckles. "How am I supposed to go on?"

"Why did she come all the way here anyway?"

"Because she's Aya," said Kakashi wearily. "She just does things that makes sense to her. She'd walk five miles through mud once, just to make sure I was the first recipient of a new episode of Icha. That's who she is."

"But from Konoha to Suna? That's a long way even for shinobi."

"... More dangerous, if the traveler is a gorgeous, single, civilian woman," continued Kakashi. He suddenly understood a little better the situation. "I think Aya got caught up in something that she was not supposed to."

Iruka nodded once. "Come on, perhaps your pets have found the caravans."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As it turned out they did.

"Way off into the mountains, chief," said one of the mongrels. He scratched his ear, hinting at his master who completely ignored him. "Then the trace disappeared."

"Call Pakkun in."

"What's up." Pakkun looked tired. For a small dog, he'd covered a lot of ground. "Before you ask, yes, I caught the scent, but it disappeared in that direction too."

"So it was someone in the caravans," confirmed Iruka. He scratched his nose. "What shall we do?"

"Tear them apart, for one." Kakashi's eyes burned. Iruka kicked him hard on the ankle. Kakashi winced. "Ow?"

"You are going to keep your wits about you, okay? I take enough emotional crap from my snotty students to babysit a full-grown man."

"Gotcha. And, ow?"


	15. Mirror Eye Chapter 15

_The morning before last..._

"Shika-kun?" The blonde kunoichi poured as much scorn as she could into her voice.

Shikamaru held up his hands. "Hey, definitely NOT my idea." He narrowed his dark eyes. "What's it to you anyway?"

"It makes me sick, is all," replied Temari. "Can't stand pretty women fawning over a lazy bum is all."

"Really." He smirked, secretly pleased. "What do you want me for anyway?"

"I don't want you for... anything. I just wanted to check something with you." At his raised eyebrow, she continued, "Did you guys check them out?"

"Yeah, sure, those are some beautiful and glamorous women out there-"

"Not 'check-them-they're-so-hot-out' check them out, the other kind."

Shikamaru took some time to work out the sentence. "Of course we... didn't."

It was Temari's turn to raise an eyebrow. Shikamaru shrugged. "Fine, fine. I'll ask Sasuke to do so."

_Now why didn't we do so?_ Shikamaru puzzled under his calm, unruffled demeanor.

"Shikamaru."

It was mealtime and they sat among the rocks. Already the scenery was changing; they were nearing the borders.

"Yeah, Sasuke." Shikamaru made a space for the Uchiha, and conveniently placing himself nearer Temari. Near the caravans, Naruto was yelling at Sakura for having taken his last naruto.

Sasuke glanced about quickly. "They're all civilians, except for the quiet one."

"Reina?" Shikamaru's perfect memory threw up the name. "So she's a ninja, too?"

"I don't think she's human."

Temari recovered faster than Shikamaru. "Puppet?"

"That's the weird thing. She had no pulse, no body heat, but she had chakra within her. And we've seen her eat and drink. We've even talked with her – not much, but enough to not notice the oddness."

"How can no one notice a, a non-living person moving about you?" demanded Temari, but before she could get an answer, they heard an explosion and a shriek from the caravans.

"SAKURA!"

Temari unfolded the metal fan in one easy swing. This was still her turf. This was Suna country.

"Can you see anything?" Shikamaru demanded of Sasuke. He pulled the bleeding Sakura into the relative safety of the caravan's shadow. "Where's Naruto?"

"Here," said the boy on cue. "I've sent my kage bunshins searching, but no luck. Can't locate a soul."

The dust from the explosion settled slightly. The five young ninja stood in a loose semicircle, Sakura having bound up the deep cut on her left arm.

"Can you fight, Sakura?" Sasuke said. He flexed his fingers, waiting for the enemy. He was ready to unleash his chidori. Naruto half crouched, hands in seal-forming position. Temari's fan stood as a shield before her, while Shikamaru's eyes scanned the perimeter.

Sakura smiled a little. "Of course I can fight."

Shikamaru spoke up. "Sakura, form barrier seals. You got exploding tags, use them. Sasuke, wait for the opportune moment, so guard the caravans until you see it. Naruto, kage bunshins by the dozens, fan out until we can drive the enemies out. Temari, cover me. I need to think."

As Shikamaru stood behind the Suna kunoichi, the rest got on with their assigned roles.

"Temari, I'm heading for the outcrop there," Shikamaru whispered. "Gimme some cover, especially with lots of debris."

"Trying out the same old trick?" she grinned. "At the count of three. Three!"

Temari whipped up a miniature dust storm. Sasuke pulled Sakura flat on the caravan's roof. Shikamaru dashed off.

Naruto fumed as he leaped from rock to rock. "Nothing," he grumbled. He returned to the group, his seventeen other clones still exploring. "I got nothing."

"Watch out!" Sakura flung a handful of shuriken at Naruto. The boy ducked and heard the metallic clinks behind him. At least five kunai, all aimed at him, had been knocked off their course.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!"

"Both of you, duck!" Sasuke quickly formed three seals in succession and blew out three large fireballs. They all heard a shriek – an inhuman, earsplitting shriek – and it was coming from a long, pale appendage behind Naruto. It had quested out from the rocks and was flailing about.

For a second Team Seven thought it was Orochimaru's snake. But it was undeniably a root when they saw the age rings and the barrk peeling off and the entire thing engulfed in flames.

"Good shot, that," complimented Temari. She sent off two wild blasts of wind, then shouted, "Needing backup here!"

Shikamaru surveyed the area. There was no one at all, and it was impossible – unless they were all underground. When he saw the root things growing at abnormal speed out of the ground, he decided. Something was very wrong here, and it wasn't just tree roots attacking.

"Sasuke!" Sakura collided with the dark-haired genin, taking the blow from the thrashing root instead. The _thing _writhed and wrapped around Sakura, pinning her arms and disallowing her to move or form seals.

"Dammit! SAKURA!" Naruto was about to fling his shuriken but Sasuke stopped him. "Sasuke! Sakura's in danger!"

"Like I can't see?" Sasuke panted. "But that thing's liable to use Sakura to deflect your attacks, stupid!"

Sakura screamed both their names as the root disappeared beneath the soil, yanking her along with it.

Temari skidded to a halt, just below the rock where the two ninja were talking. "Duck, guys." She suddenly swung her fan and whipped up a whirlwind. Sasuke could feel the sharp wind cutting across his shoulders and hunkered down lower.

"Temari!"

"So what did you see?" Temari asked Shikamaru who had rejoined the fight. The spiky-haired chuunin threw two exploding tags – hitting both targets – before answering.

Just as suddenly as the attack began, the roots wriggled underground.

Naruto swore. Sasuke looked down, his fists tight. The other two stood surveying the damage.

"Really odd, that," Shikamaru indicated the point where Sakura had been abducted. He then flexed his fingers. All four of them looked at the spot, each to their own thoughts.

A soft voice interrupted. "Um, hey."

As they turned around simultaneously, a soft cloud puffed into their faces.


	16. Mirror Eye Chapter 16

"Up this cliff."

"Yeah boss. What, don't trust us?" The dogs managed a canine grin. "You want us with ya?"

Kakashi looked up the impossibly sheer cliff. "I'll call."

"That's what they all say," Pakkun got in a last bark of laughter before they dispersed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"They're coming."

"We're ready. She's gone to get the last item."

"... does it bother you?"

"Not really. We've sacrificed too much for this small thing to matter."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iruka tightened his equipment pouch. "Race ya, Kakashi?"

The jounin didn't acknowledge him. Iruka sighed inwardly; he knew he had to be the one to hold Kakashi back later, but he wasn't looking forward to the task.

They concentrated their chakra on their feet. They wouldn't need to do this, but now Kakashi wanted to make it up as fast as possible.

They dashed up the vertical surface. Then they fell flat on their backs.

"What the hell just happened?" Iruka cursed soundly.

Kakashi felt the rock wall. "This is chakra-absorbing rock... I've felt this before, a long time ago."

"Should we send for reinforcements?"

"Yeah, and call for a pizza while you're at it." Kakashi's tone didn't change, but the sarcasm bit. "Let's do this the traditional way."

"Man, I hate the hard way," grumbled Iruka.

Kakashi grinned slightly as they twirled the long chained hook. "Then why are you a teacher?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took close to an hour to scale the cliff.

All right, so they could not use chakra, and there was a ridiculous overhand that was parallel to the ground, and then there were thorny vines and poisoned darts.

But still, an hour? They were growing old.

As Iruka stood breathing heavily on top of the cliff, he scanned the surrounds.

_There._

If he hadn't been looking for it, he wouldn't have noticed the multiple needles buried just beneath the dirt.

"Hidden needles,Kakashi." Iruka stood up straight. "Watch your skin."

"Got it," said Kakashi. His thick boots scuffed the dirt and dislodged a few of the needles. "Possibly poisoned, though – hey!"

The earth moved and shook. A chasm opened right between the two men, and they tried to keep their balance. Iruka's feet suddenly slipped when the ground below him opened up and formed steps. On reflex, he flung out an arm to brake his fall, but -

"Fuggit," he swore softly as he clambered back on level ground. _A teacher to his bones; even his swearing vocabulary is sanitized_. Kakashi was darkly amused as he leaped over clumsily. _This is going to be tough, without chakra_.

Iruka waved Kakashi off. "If you're gonna save them you keep your wits about you. I'll just... just take a nap for... for a while."

He collapsed.

Kakashi stared at his prone form for a moment. The wind whipped up.

"You have me where you want me, so why don't you show yourself?"

Three figures walked up the steps: Hoshiko, Toshi and Aisa.

"There are the rest?" Kakashi asked curtly as he turned around.

"You'll see them, don't fret," Hoshiko said. The three fanned out and surrounded them, one unconscious, one standing.

"What are you?"

"Leo, ascendant Aries. Aisa here is a Pisces, and Toshi is a Scorpio."

Kakashi snorted. "Glib answer."

"We've some unfinished business, Kakashi-san." Toshi spoke up. Her voice was melodic, but there was a hint of maliciousness that hadn't been there before.

Kakashi faced her. In the weak light of the setting sun there was an ethereal quality about her paleness. She had on a white robe; Hoshiko was wearing a deep red robe and Aisa a deep blue. "Yes we do, Yamamoto-san. Where the hell is my girlfriend?"

"You want to know?" She sashayed towards him.

"Stay away from me. Or else I'll-"

"What? Kiss me like there's no tomorrow? Run your hands up and down my spine? Lick the curve of my neck? Leave me little bites about my waist?"

"How did – that's between me and Aya."

Aisa giggled. "We know, Kakashi-san. We've made it a point to find out."

"You have a mysterious eye, the sharingan, Kakashi-san," said Toshi, silencing the younger girl, "I have my miraa no me."

"Mirror eye?"

"Like I said, each of us have our own special spell, Kakashi-san. And this-" Toshi's eyes silvered for a moment in the shadows "- is mine."


	17. Mirror Eye Chapter 17

_The bookshop was dingy, but it can also be cosy. Especially when the shopkeeper was a beautiful girl whom you happened to be making love to regularly._

"_Hey, honey," said Kakashi as he entered the shop. There was no tinkling of bells – Aya had been so fed up with it that she took it off._

"_Hi dear," said Aya as she greeted him with a kiss. "Dinner where?"_

"_I thought you were going to cook." _

"_Tired today," she said as Kakashi helped her into her jacket. "I was thinking about steak. Medium rare, in fact."_

"_... All right."_

_There were candles about the room. The sweet scent of musk and sweat permeated the space, as the two lovers lay entwined n the sheets of the narrow bed. Aya nuzzled against Kakashi's neck, tendrils of her long hair tickling his nose. Her hands were stilled for the moment; they were as tired as their owner._

_Kakashi kissed her forehead. "I'm starting to like this."_

"_Starting to?" Aya pouted._

"_Mmmm... look at that lip. Gonna get me some lip," teased Kakashi as he bent to kiss his girlfriend. "Yeah, the whole just-lying-together quietness."_

_Aya licked the hollow between his shoulder and collarbone. "How about the waking-up part? You like that too?"_

"_Yeah, I do." His fingers tangled themselves in her silky hair. His left hand ran up and down the curve of her spine, and he enjoyed the shudders and moans she gave when he let his fingers do the talking._

_As he cradled her against him, he saw something from the corner of his original eye. A shadow, flickering against the wall._

"_What are you looking at?" Aya asked when he paused in the caresses._

"_Nothing. It's nothing."_

"_I'm taking a shower here before I go. Is that okay?"_

"_...sure." Kakashi stretched out in his bed. Maybe he should get a larger one now._

"_Where are the towels?"_

"_... in the cupboard beside the bathroom." Kakashi frowned a little. Something was very off. Then he caught sight of the flickering shadow again._

_Then, as if he was acting on orders, Kakashi stood up and opened the bathroom door. Aya was there, under the showerhead, and she looked surprised when he barged in._

_Her surprise turned to shock when he grabbed her by the arm and slammed her against the tiled wall._

"_Who are you?"_

"_What the-" the woman tried to yank her arm away from Kakashi. "I'm Aya! Your girlfriend, remember?"_

"_I know Aya, and you are most definitely not her. Who are you and where is she?"_

_The woman stopped struggling. She then smiled, a smile full of malicious admiration. "You're good. I'm surprised."_

"_Where is she?" Kakashi let go of the woman. He felt sick to know he'd made love to this stranger. She only stood there, in Aya's face, in Aya's skin, smirking at him. He raised an arm and backhanded her. The false Aya smashed into the opposite wall and broke apart into a million glittering shards._

"Gaaah!" Kakashi and Toshi both screamed into the night. They were still on the clifftop, but Aisa had left. There was also some changes wrought while the two were on their mindtrip. Toshi was standing, but she was panting as she tried valiantly to remain upright. Kakashi was the only male of the top of the cliff. Iruka was nowhere to be seen.

"You're really good," commented Hoshiko as she supported a reeling Toshi. "That makes you the first man to escape from her mirror eye illusion."

Toshi wiped off a thin streak of blood from her chin. "How did you know?" she spat at Kakashi.

Kakashi ignored her. He was preoccupied with the chains that secured him to the ground. He was lying spreadeagled, and his flak jacket had been removed. Wordlessly he tested the strength of the chains. They were too strong. Kakashi tried to generate chakra, but it was no use – he was still on the chakra-sapping rock.

_Damn_.

"I asked you how you knew it was an illusion!" snapped Toshi as she staggered to a seat. Hoshiko assisted her to a chair, and stood protectively beside her. The blind gaze seemed to want to penetrate Kakashi's thoughts.

Kakashi smiled mirthlessly. "A word to the wise: don't mess with ANBU members' memories." _Plus, I HATE steak, and Aya knows where everything in my apartment – including my porn collection – is._

"I don't believe there's a man-"

"Hush, Toshi. He's secured. He's just going to face more pain this way, is all."

Toshi turned away from Hoshiko. The latter smiled almost apologetically at Kakashi. "She's just cranky you withstood her seduction."

"That's how you did it that night, wasn't it?"

"Ha!" Toshi's bitter laugh died off in the empty air. The moon was rising. One more night to the new moon. "If you think I'll actually let your filthy hands all over me..."

Hoshiko placed a hand on Toshi's shoulder. Kakashi saw the knuckles whiten, and a glimmer of understanding came to him. Of course, it was of no use to him at that moment of incapacitation, but he filed it away under "potentially useful".

"So what do you plan to do?"


	18. Mirror Eye Chapter 18

"What do we plan to do?" replied Hoshiko mockingly. "We're supposed to blurt out our entire plans to you, just so you can disrupt them?"

Kakashi sighed inwardly. It had always worked in the movies. "You're the baddies, you're supposed to gloat."

"We're baddies? That's good to know." With that the two women descended the rocky steps and disappeared from Kakashi's limited view.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toshi leaned against the cool rock surface of the tunnel. Hoshiko supported her silently. The two women held each other, drawing strength from each other.

"Soon, Toshi. Soon. Can you hold the woman's mind?"

Toshi nodded, her blank gaze fixed on a point beyond the dark of the tunnel. "Only for a while longer. That man has an amazing strength of will... took more out of me than I realized."

Hoshiko kissed Toshi on her petal-smooth cheek. "It's okay, at least the other five ninja are sleeping. And that jounin can't do anything as long as Fujiko's _calx ara_ holds."

"It better hold," growled Toshi. "_Oculus Speculum_ can only work on three persons max, and I'm draining just having to maintain the one in that woman's mind."

"It will hold, Toshi-sama," replied Fujiko, stepping out of a room. Her twin followed her. Both wore pale rose robes. "With the source-river so near, I doubt any magic will" "fail. And Reina is ready, too, Hoshiko-sama. And Aisa has returned with the" "last item."

The two leaders inhaled. "Let's go see our baby."

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"She's so pale," commented Dai. "You sure she's suitable?"

"Yes, Dai. We've been searching for months, and her natal chart matches exactly."

Dai smiled breezily. "Tonight's the night, then."

Aisa stroked the infant's cheek thoughtfully. She wondered, for a moment, if the baby was having sweet dreams.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reina stood in the center of the room. She was resplendent in robes of silver, her eyes wide and trusting. Hoshiko slipped her hand into Toshi's.

"She looks wonderful, Toshi."

"I know. Her aura's never been more brilliant than this moment."

The two women stood at the door, eyes rimming with tears.

Reina looked at Toshi and Hoshiko. Stepping daintily off her dais, she knelt and bowed respectfully.

"Let's go," said Hoshiko almost brusquely. Only Toshi felt the slight trembling in her fingers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aisa painted the final sigil in the northeast corner.

"There, all set." Aisa licked her lips. "There is nothing else except for the moon to rise tonight."

Dai and Reina came into Kakashi's very limited view.

Dai, as usual, spoke first. "Kakashi-san, we're gonna have to change your clothes. You won't give us any trouble, I hope."

"Why?" Kakashi panicked a little at the thought of being naked before all these women. On the other hand, maybe he could use the chance to fight his way out.

"Nothing machine-made can be here during the ritual," explained Dai. She gestured to Reina.

Kakashi tensed his muscles. As Dai released the bonds, he snapped an open palm – edge up – hoping to push Dai off balance. Before he could make contact, his wrist was caught in an iron grip.

Reina had intercepted his attack. There was no change in expression. Her blond hair swung forward as she pinned the shinobi to the ground.

_Damn, she's stronger than she looks._

He caught the scent of lilac. Startled, he relaxed his struggling. So it had been Reina in his room that night. Then his sensitive nose detected something else.

_Earth, and ... sweet rot?_

It was only then he noticed that Reina's hair was exactly the same shade as Toshi's, and her eyes the same brilliant blue as Hoshiko's.

_Isn't she just an adopted kid? Why does she look so similar to both of them?_

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Reina kept her grip on Kakashi all through the changing of outfits. She changed her grip from his wrist to his neck after they yanked the tight pullover off of him.

"Take it easy, Reina, we do want him alive," chided Dai when she noticed Kakashi becoming a little blue in the face. Dai stood up after she tied the belt of the thin black robe about him. "You really do look very different without the mask, Kakashi-san."

Reina shifted her grip again, and carried the immobilized ninja to the plateau again.

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Kakashi was tied to a rock pillar this time. He was gagged with a length of cloth – _probably hand-woven – _and bound so tightly he couldn't feel his hands or feet.

_Nifty. I can't even run properly if I managed to shake these off._

He watched as Fujiko and Umeka raised up six more similar pillars. A raised platform with a sunken center took pride of place. Kakashi looked about him: a five-pointed star, bound within a pentagram, encapsulated by a circle. Sigils and mystical marks were painted apparently at random.

Aisa Mori stepped into the circle and placed, very tenderly, a wrapped bundle into the hollow space in the platform.

To Kakashi's horror, the bundle wriggled and gurgled. Aisa cooed at it gently and played with a tiny hand.

Then his attention was drawn to the long line of people being led up the steps. 'Led' was not the word; Reina was dragging five shinobi by their arms.

Shikamaru, Temari, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. All looked asleep but somehow they could stagger behind Reina. None of them woke up as Umeka bound each of them to a pillar.

Kakashi knew who would be coming next, but he was unprepared to see the pallor on her face and the slack emptiness of her eyes. It was as if she was already dead, and it was a zombie that was led around.

"Mmrmpha!" Kakashi tried to call out. The gag hampered his diction but not the urgency and pain in his tone.

"You seem perturbed, Kakashi-san," said a cool voice beside him. Kakashi turned to glare at the blind woman mocking him. "Let's see what she's experiencing now."

_Let me go let me go please please no let me let me go let let me go please I beg you beg you please let me go_

Toshi loosened the gag so Kakashi could speak.

"You monster," Kakashi said weakly. He strained at the tight bonds, raging to get to the female before him. "You... you're inhuman!"

"What's so great about being human?" she snapped suddenly at him. "Besides, that's her subconscious fear. She's afraid of you, Kakashi-san. And if, by some impossible chance she wakes up before the ritual completes she'll always think of you as you are in her mind now."

"That's not gonna happen. She trusts – I love her, and I'm not the demon you released in her mind. You," Kakashi caught his breath as a slew of vindictiveness fought to escape, "you will die. And I will be the one who kills you."

"You don't get it, do you?" whispered Toshi, close enough for Kakashi to feel her cool breath on his face. "I don't fear death. I fear nothing humans fear."


	19. Mirror Eye Chapter 19

The new moon rose, like the sickle of Death.

Kakashi felt nauseous as he watched Aya stood, unbound, next to a stone pillar. She had been stripped, and Aisa had taken a brush and painted strange symbols on her tanned skin. The paint looked cakey and brown in the darkness.

An arrangement of candles – giving off the foulest smell, what on earth could they be made of? - were placed in strategic areas around all of them.

The witches stood in the pentagram. Hoshiko led Reina to the exact center of the star, and tenderly slid the golden robe off the girl. Kakashi looked away for a moment, but turned back. He had to figure out what was goin on. Reina – or Reina's physical body - was only fifteen, and he had other things on his mind.

_Where is Iruka? Is he already dead?_

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"Viscus parvulus lacer domo," intoned Fujiko. She inscribed a shape in the ground before her with a sharp flint.

_A line bisecting a circle._

Umeka took the stone from her sister's hands. "Cruor ex mulier brevis diligio."

_A triangle, bound in a circle._

Proeliator somes inops quod despero." Dai said tonelessly, with a swift glance at Kakashi.

_Five dots, surrounding a triangle._

Aisa took the stone next, and said, " Phasmatis virgo somnus veneficus."

_Four short lines, placed in the cardinal points._

Hoshiko looked straight ahead, at Reina standing skyclad near the altar. "Ex cinis ineris illae vitualamen."

_Three wavy lines, in an arrowhead design._

Toshi took the flint gravely. She turned to face Reina. Her face was impassive, but Kakashi detected a faint tremor in her voice when she spoke.

"Addo nos radix vita eternus."

Kakashi caught the sight of Reina jerking, as if she was caught in a lightning strike. An eldritch glow lit her from beneath, and Kakashi realized – too late – that Reina now had the flint knife in her hands.

She stumbled to the stone basin, with the gurgling and cooing child inside. Suddenly Reina's eyes flared into life.

"Flesh of a child, torn from home," she whispered, and plunged the knife down. Kakashi didn't even manage to cry out.

Blood sprayed from the tiny bundle in the basin. There was a hint of a thin, piteous cry cut off too abruptly. Reina pulled a strip off the knife and ate it. The symbol at Fujiko's feet burst into flame.

Then Reina breathed out. There was more life in her now, Kakashi noted, not the same automaton that had gripped him earlier.

She now moved towards where Aya was standing, still trapped in her nightmare.

Kakashi tried to scream against his gag but almost choked in despair.

Reina had a ghost of a smile on her face. "Blood of a woman, shorn of love," she said, advancing.

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Toshi could feel the pressure building within. Her blood coursed through her veins like rivers of living flame, and it was all she could do not to cry out when Reina took the first step in _becoming._

"Wait, love," muttered Hoshiko, not two steps away from the blind woman. Toshi looked at Hoshiko's brilliant green aura, blending perfectly into Toshi's own brilliant indigo. Usually a person's aura flickered a few inches from a person's body; only a high energy or extremely charismatic person could possess an aura extending more than half a foot. But now, as Toshi glanced about their coven, every witch's aura was blazing: Fujiko's deep, malignant purple, Umeka's light pink, Dai's fiery red, Aisa's clear yellow. And Reina's...

"Oh goddess... she's beautiful," whispered Toshi when she faced Reina.

Hoshiko felt a little jealous of what Toshi could witness. Only in the throes of passion, only then, could Hoshiko share in the gift that was uniquely Toshi's. She suppressed the envy and asked softly, "What do you see, Toshi?"

"A golden so brilliant... and it's building." Toshi turned blank, sightless eyes to her lover. "She's going to swallow the world."

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Kakashi strained as hard as he could against his bonds. If he had to break his arms and legs to get to Reina before she hurt Aya he would. His joints protested and were overruled; they can heal later.

Just before Kakashi de-limbed himself Reina stopped mid-motion.

Everyone paused, unsure of what happened.

"Gotcha," panted Shikamaru. He was wide awake, and had Reina under his Shadow Bind jutsu's control. He looked a little dishevelled."Thanks, Naruto."

"Not a problem," the short genin answered. There were three more Narutos about the plateau.

Hoshiko's eyes widened. "How could you – Never mind. I can find out later. Fujiko!"

Rock rippled towards Shikamaru and Naruto. The genin and chuunin jumped awkwardly. Shikamaru directed two Narutos to untie Kakashi and the rest, while two more acted as Shikamaru's backup.

Reina was still struggling to force the blade towards Aya. Kakashi, once freed of his bonds, barreled towards his girlfriend and pulled her away. In the process he kicked over a few candles and scuffed up the symbols on the rock.

"NO!" Toshi and Hoshiko shrieked together as, suddenly, Reina began to crumple. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, she toppled slowly to the ground. Toshi shook off her reverie and dashed to her side, cradling her head and gently rocking. She was weeping.

"Sorry, Toshi-sama, Hoshiko-sama... I've failed you." Reina was gasping now. Suddenly her features slackened, and Kakashi knew she was dead. Well, more dead than she was previously.

Hoshiko embraced the still kneeling Toshi. Aisa and Dai broke free from their positions, while Fujiko and Umeka guarded against the shinobi.

"So close, so close..." Toshi was rocking Reina's corpse back and forth. Hoshiko caressed her fair hair, and gave her a kiss on her forehead. Then she stood to face the Konoha shinobi.

Her eyes blazed, hard. "You ruined everything."

"Everything being what?" Kakashi spat out. Aya was still catatonic. "If you'd hurt her at all-"

"Not the point, Kakashi-sensei." Shikamaru stepped between Hoshiko and Kakashi. It was probably one of the bravest things he had ever done in his life. "As temporary team leader of Team Seven and representative of the Hokage, I'm officially taking all of you into custody for the killings of eighteen men and women over the course of-"

"Shut up." Dai spoke up. She stood up, behind Hoshiko. "Little jerks. Did you really think you can take any of us?"

A wall of flame exploded between the two groups. As Shikamaru, Naruto and Kakashi shielded the rest from the fire they heard the very unpleasant sound of crumbling rock.

"Fuggit."


	20. Mirror Eye Chapter 20

"We can stop now," said Hoshiko.

The coven paused in the clearing. Umeka released the bears from their tasks, giving each of them a bag of berries each. Fujiko and Dai assisted Toshi in climbing off the grey bear she was on, but she still stumbled when she dismounted.

Aisa set up a thorny barrier around the coven. "Hoshiko-sama, how long will we be here?"

"Until Toshi recovers her energy," she replied, her eyes fixed on the moon's progress. Already she could feel the euphoria from the earlier events fading. The source river was far less turbulent in its travel through the solar system, having been released back into its normal path. Hoshiko closed her eyes.

_So close. We could've drawn down the primal power, we could've created a goddess. And now the chance is lost, forever._

Toshi walked unsteadily up to Hoshiko and wrapped her arms about her waist. Her lips were icy cold against Hoshiko's neck. "We lost her," said Toshi muzzily.

"Yes, Toshi, but she lives still in us."

"That's movie-talk." Toshi gave a short, bitter laugh. "We're no longer actresses, remember?"

"But how else do we live out the rest of our lives?" Hoshiko asked. Her hands slid along Toshi's forearms. She leaned into her embrace, taking care not to overwhelm her weakened lover. "We've lost our opportunity."

Aisa stared into the flames Dai set in the center of the clearing. All the other girls gave the two leaders their space to grieve.

"I miss her already," muttered Dai as she sat beside Aisa. "I mean, she doesn't talk much, but you get so used to having her around as a shadow, y'know?"

"I know." Aisa's gaze didn't alter in their intensity. "I just wished they'd told us what Reina had to do. I mean, I fetched the child, stole her from her parents, and then..." She sighed deeply.

Fujiko cut in softly. "They told us – just not you."

"Why?"

Dai looked uncomfortable. Her back to Toshi and Hoshiko, she whispered to Aisa, " That's 'cause they know you'd disapprove."

"'Flesh of a child'? Of course I'd disapprove. It was – I've seen some brutal things done, but not..." Aisa faltered. "Not to an innocent."

"Flesh of a child, torn from home," Umeka recited in a low tone. "Blood of a woman, shorn of love."

"Bones of a warrior, helpless in need; Spirits of virgins in enchanted sleep," continued Fujiko. Her fingers traced the symbols for each verse into the dusty ground.

Dai went on, "From the ashes of this sacrifice."

"Bring forth the source of eternal life." Toshi and Hoshiko ended the recital. They stood behind the girls. "There was something else we hid from you girls." Hoshiko helped Toshi sit down. They exchanged a meaningful glance, then Hoshiko took the lead. Her low voice was soothing in the dark.

"You all knew Reina wasn't human," she began. The girls nodded. "She was a homunculus, a container for magic, in human form.

"Toshi and I... we can't have children, not in the way we wish." Toshi gripped Hoshiko's fingers tightly at this point. Hoshiko smiled, a little, but went on. "So we poured a bit of our souls into Reina."

"She was our baby," said Toshi, taking over the narrative. "But she was, to all intents and purposes, dead. She had no spirit, no soul... but she was different from either Hoshiko or myself. She ad a distinct identity – something that no homunculus ever became."

"We came across this ritual in our studies," said Hoshiko. "Before we became a coven. And we needed a lot of money, and a reason to travel about so that we could locate the nexus of power for this ritual.

"Only shinobi, merchants and entertainers move about the land so much, so we chose the last as our profession." At that, all the girls smiled. "That's how we met up, and you all know what we had to do the past few years."

"Aisa, we're sorry we excluded you about the ... role ... of the child," said Toshi haltingly. "But it was necessary."

Aisa looked away, into the flames.

"Then we realized fate was on our side – we could now break up the ritual into six components instead of two."

"If it had just been the two of us, Toshi would probably be dead by now," said Hoshiko. "And I doubt I'd fare much better. Reina would never have completed the becoming."

"What was Reina supposed to become?" asked Dai, trying to defuse the tension flooding between Aisa and Toshi.

"We were going to draw the source river of magic into Reina," said Hoshiko. She also noticed the coolness between her lover and Aisa. That was bad for the morale of the team. "She would be the living incarnate of magic. A goddess."

"Someone's approaching," interrupted Umeka. A moth fluttered away from her finger. "A few someones, in fact."

Fujiko swore softly and imaginatively. "I collapsed a _cliff_ on those guys," she complained. "How on earth did they survive that?"


	21. Mirror Eye Chapter 21

The moment the cliff began shaking, Naruto started creating more shadow clones. Each kage bunshin picked up an unconscious teammate and began trying to leap down the crumbling rocks faster than the cliff could overtake their descent. Shikamaru, with temari on his back, followed swiftly. Kakashi had Aya in his arms. He had wrapped his girlfriend in the discarded silver robe and was now calculating how best to get her medical attention. The cloned Narutos behind Kakashi tried their best to slow the tumbling rocks from knocking the shinobi off.

"Kakashi-sensei, we should – watch out!" Shikamaru and Kakashi pulled away at the same instant. A giant piece of rock trundled past them at amazing speed.

"Talk later, escape now!" yelled Naruto above the din of the collapse.

They fled down the face of the cliff.

On the bright side, without the witch to hold the spell together, the rock no longer sapped everyone's chakra. On the not-so-bright side, a hundred tons of non-chakra-absorbing rock was about to collapse on them.

When they reached the foot of the cliff, all of them dashed into the safety of the trees.

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Shikamaru and Naruto peeked out of the shelter of the leaves when the dust cleared.

"Kakashi-sensei," called out Naruto. "I think we should go find the -"

Shikamaru held Naruto back. "Not now, Naruto," warned Shikamaru. He looked back into the trees.

It was a tableau Shikamaru wished he'd never see again. Kakashi cradled Aya in his lap, her head resting on his chest. He was bent over her, and the shadows blocked the two youngsters' view of the jounin's expression. They could see her face though, in the pseudo-light of the moon. Her eyes were open, but there was nary a flicker in them. There was no sound, save for his crooning her name like it was a benediction, and to Naruto's shock he saw drops falling onto Aya Fukuda's cheeks.

Shikamaru swallowed. "Naruto, I think we can find a way to wake the sleeping beauties and idiot up."

"Yeah," muttered Naruto, tearing his eyes away from the affecting sight. "Bet Sasuke's the last to wake."

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As a matter of fact Sasuke was already alert and awake.

"I've already been under my bro – that man's mangekyo sharingan before," he said, rubbing his forehead. "That was very similar."

"And yet you fell into the spell," said Shikamaru softly. He tried calling Sakura's name, shaking her, and short of a large alarm clock Shikamaru didn't really know what to do. He sighed and sat back on his hunches. "Guys, help?"

"Let me." A large figure squatted down opposite Shikamaru.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto sputtered. "You – you're here?"

"You're all right?" Shikamaru asked when he saw the wince Iruka made when he shifted positions. There were cuts and bruises everywhere. "What happened?"

"Fell off a cliff, got nicked by a poisoned needle, banged about by some large rocks. Not in that order," said Iruka with a smile. "Sakura!"

She slept on, a frown appearing between her brows. She was sweating ice. Sasuke and Naruto crowded round, trying to wake their teammate.

Shikamaru edged away from the group. He wandered over to Temari. She wasn't faring better, her skin also swimming in cold sweat. Her lips trembled a warning – Shikamaru couldn't hear what she said – and her fingers seemed to jerk in painful reaction to something. Shikamaru squatted down next to her.

In the darkness the Suna kunoichi seemed to shrink into a girl, not the usual confident woman-to-be that she usually portrayed.

Without planning his usual 218 steps for any strategy, Shikamaru leaned down and kissed Temari softly on her lips. She whimpered.

"Man," mumbled Shikamaru. "What the hell did I just do?" He felt his own cheeks flame. Thank the lords it was night.

"Something troubling you again, Shika-kun?" Temari looked up at him, her voice tremulous. She struggled into a sitting position, Shikamaru attempting to help. She smiled at the boy. "What, cat got your tongue?"

"Nothing." He managed a credible grin. "Just trying to wake a troublesome, sleepy woman."

"Yeah, yeah..."

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Sasuke tried the release seal again.

"That's not going to work," said Temari from behind the group. She tightened the black robe with a length of red rope she scavenged from the pile of rocks. The robe now resembled a kimono.

Naruto and Iruka looked up at the kunoichi. "How did you break the spell?"

Shikamaru looked away, trying to avoid everyone's eyes.

"When you've been Gaara's sister as long as I have, you tend to sleep light," said Temari. She spared Shikamaru a glance, and decided to spare him – and herself – the teasing. For now.

Sasuke frowned. "Sakura's an only daughter."

"Then someone's got to give her physical body something else to focus on, to break the hold on her mind." Looking at the three suddenly red faces before her, Temari clarified hastily, "A kiss would do, I guess."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, and Sasuke looked at Naruto. Then they looked at Sakura, lying between them.

"Hey, she likes _you, _not me," Naruto mumbled. He tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

Sasuke flushed a little. He drawled, "She won't know the difference anyway."

"Still."

Iruka sighed. He suddenly pushed both their heads down. His aim was very accurate: Naruto kissed Sakura on her forehead, and Sasuke's lips landed on her cheek. The two boys jerked up and landed on their butts, both suddenly and equally crimson.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open. "What happened?"

"Hey, Sakura-chan," said Naruto, far too nonchalantly. "Good dream?"

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"So Shikamaru met with you up there where he was observing?"

"Yeah. So one of his clones turned into me, went to get trapped along with you guys – I can't believe you fell for it, Sasuke – and then we sort of lost track of them." Shikamaru rubbed his nose for that error.

"You guys went underground, I think," supplied Naruto. He looked at the shadowy forms of the trees, and looked away. "We managed to track you guys when we saw the cliff."

"When we were in Sunagakure, Gaara and I discussed the case," Shikamaru said. Temari looked up in surprise. "So he said it'd be good if I understood the terrain more. And Baki-san gave me a map of the area. I didn't catch that the caravans were heading in the wrong direction until I saw the rocky outcrop and the trees. And then, out of nowhere, a cliff? Pretty much a giveaway."

Naruto scratched his head. "Then we couldn't climb the cliff properly, y'know? Like it takes all the energy from you. So we had to find the caravans, and then dig out ropes-"

"- which they didn't have. In the end we just tore up the clothes that were in the caravan, tied them together to make some kind of rope, and used kunai to climb up."

Naruto and Shikamaru grimaced at the memory of the hideous uphill climb.

Sakura and Sasuke suddenly asked in unison, "Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

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Iruka had to speak to Shikamaru privately for close to ten minutes. The discussion was agitated, especially when Iruka started stomping over to the knot of shinobi.

"Naruto, go find something from the caravan that resembles a mask," ordered Iruka, the moment he stepped from the trees. Temari's eyes narrowed. Iruka ignored the challenging look Temari threw him. "He needs something to bring him to his senses."

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"Put this on."

Kakashi didn't look up. A mask was thrown into Aya's lap. He looked up and saw Iruka. He should have been glad that Iruka survived, apparently with only superficial wounds, but he felt numb. He turned his attention back to the catatonic girl in his embrace.

"Put it on, Kakashi," commanded Iruka. He kept his mounting temper under control, but the control was slipping. "Put. It. On."

"Leave us alone," replied Kakashi.

"Not gonna happen."

"Leave us, Iruka."

The chuunin flared. He grabbed Kakashi by the robe, yanking him off his feet. "I told you I don't have time to babysit you, Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi. Right now is not the time to indulge in self-pity."

Kakashi still held tightly to Aya but he brushed off Iruka's hand. "I'm not indulging -" he began, but Iruka cut him off with a blow across his jaw.

"You're the best technique specialist in Konoha. How about you put that title to good use instead of hoping in vain and wasting your time?"

"How dare you?"

"I dare because all of them – including your precious team seven – are scared and uncertain, and they need your guidance! Shikamaru's done a good job thus far but you are the adult in the mission. If you don't pull yourself together..." Iruka's voice died off. "I'm just a chuunin, but I can see you're one of the best ninja to ever come out of Konoha. The kids need you, right now. I'm not showing it, but if you'd care to take my pulse you'll realize I'm taking a risk with my life."

Kakashi grabbed Iruka's wrist. The pulse was irregular and, with some concentration he saw the pallor beneath Iruka's skin, and he could smell the faint trace of blood on his jaw.

"You've internal injuries, Iruka." Concern for a fellow shinobi overrode his heightened emotional state. Kakashi quickly summoned Bull.

"Yeah, boss?" The stout bulldog asked. He clung awkwardly to the branch. "Uh, boss? Could I meet you on the ground, no?"

"Anything. Carry Iruka to the Konoha hospital now."

"Give me Aya," said Iruka as he prepared to mount the dog.

Kakashi hesitated.

"We'll have the best medic team to attend to her, Kakashi. We have Tsunade-sama. Trust me."

Kakashi looked at Iruka's sincere face. "Take care of her for me, Iruka."

"Do the same with that bunch of kids and we'll call it square, Copy Ninja." With the last parting shot Bull set off for home.

Kakashi looked at the white mask now lying on the forest floor. He jumped down to it and picked it up.

Then he chuckled briefly.

"A dog mask?"


	22. Mirror Eye Chapter 22

"Guess we caught up, Baki-sensei," smirked a hooded teenager. His face wore three purple lines and he carried a bundle behind him. He swung his burden to the ground beside him. The older man smiled, but barely.

The twins, Dai and Aisa took up guarding positions. Toshi and Hoshiko did not move. "Who are you people?"

"We haven't met," said someone coldly behind the girls. A red-haired ninja stood just out of the range of firelight, and as he stepped forward the witches felt the chill of death rush towards them. Hoshiko stood in front of Toshi.

Dai narrowed her sea-green eyes, seeing her own coloring repeated in this – boy – and feeling quite uncomfortable about it. "Who are you?"

The boy had a word tattooed on his forehead. He looked proud and forbidding in the dancing flames.

"Sabaku no Gaara."

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"We could use Neji or Hinata right now," grumbled Naruto as the four teenagers followed Kakashi through the trees. "They could use that byakugan thingy and direct us immediately instead of us following a pup."

"The 'pup' can hear you, little blond idiot," barked Pakkun from his leading place. Kakashi just ushered him on.

Sakura avoided a twig that snapped towards her. "Did we have to make that detour just now?"

"If you prefer to fight in a robe that flaps open easily, be my guest," said Temari. She had kept her robe on though, since she hadn't brought extra outfits for the supposedly one-day journey. She made concessions to the embarrassingly thin robe with a pair of black tights beneath the robe. The others had changed into their usual outfits. "It's just a stroke of luck they left my fan in the caravan. Else I'd be weaponless and in an inefficient outfit."

"You look good in black," muttered Shikamaru as he passed by her. His voice was low enough not to carry to the others, but Temari felt her cheeks warm with the compliment.

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The three Suna shinobi didn't attack.

"What do you want?" Toshi stepped from behind her lover's shadow. Hoshiko held a hand out to stop her, but Toshi pushed past it with a squeeze on her fingers.

"Where are the Konoha shinobi?" asked Baki. "They were supposedly escorting you ladies."

"Change of plan," cut in Aisa. She exchanged glances with the other young witches. Her fingers quickly wove a spell in the air. "Toshi, Hoshiko, we're leaving. Now!"

Suddenly the woods erupted. Vines shot out of the thick branches and thick roots twined around the shinobi's feet. Kankurou cursed and was abrubtly muffled as a vine curled over his mouth. Gaara stood stock-still. Sand formed a dense sphere about him, but the plants wrapped about it into a strange, green, thorny ball.

"Forgot about me, ladies," said Baki. The vines and roots were being cut into bits about him. "Wind blades are not something you want to forget a second time, though."

Aisa cursed. Dai let loose a fireball in Baki's direction, and took over the fight. Umeka had already begun whistling for her creatures, and wolves started loping out to the open. They all paused suddenly, not willing to move anywhere nearer than ten feet to the sphere of sand. After a second of indecision, the wolves backed away into the shelter of darkness. Umeka cursed silently and called for her escape plan.

Toshi nudged Hoshiko. "You take care of them, I'll handle the boy."

"You sure?"

"He's the toughest. If I can put him under then we can deal with the rest easily."

"Be careful."

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Pakkun stopped suddenly.

Naruto and Sakura piled into each other, and both were saved from falling by Sasuke's quick grab at both of them.

"We're close." Kakashi had not put on his usual half mask, and his current dog-mask was intimidating. Shikamaru wondered what the jounin had been like as an ANBU member. He remembered Iruka-sensei's words before the chuunin had left to give Kakashi a piece of his mind.

"_Watch him. If he begins killing without reason, restrain him. Knock him out if necessary."_

"_I can't do it!"_

"_I'm not debating your ability to do it, I'm telling you the necessity of ensuring that Kakashi does not lose sight of the mission. We have to bring these women in to Konoha, alive."_

Shikamaru sighed as they took off in the westerly direction. Why him? Can't the rest do it?

He answered his own question: the Kagemane no jutsu.

"Whatever it is that's troubling you, you better get that resolved in two minutes," said Temari who had drawn even with him again in their pursuit. "We're gonna come up to them soon. You ready, kid?"

The Nara teenager half-smiled. She wasn't commenting on combat readiness. Shikamaru gave himself a mental shake. No point planning. They'd cross the bridge when they came to it.

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Gaara allowed the sand to fall away once the vegetation behaved as they should.

He met his sensei's eyes. Baki was holding his own against Dai and Aisa. If not for the fire-user's flames signaling the directions of attack of the wind blades they'd be defeated by now. Kankurou was nowhere to be seen.

Gaara twitched his fingers. The ground was dry enough; he could feel the particles grinding beneath the rock he stood on.

"Look out!" shouted Fujiko. She drew three signs on the ground around the witches. "Hoshiko, Umeka, sacred circle!"

Hoshiko didn't waste time asking for details. Umeka and Hoshiko swiftly circled all the women with a scratched line fifteen feet across. Fujiko began chanting.

Gaara felt the sand grains beneath the ground slipping out of his control. "What is she doing?" he thought to himself.

Fujiko glared across the borders of the circle. "If you think I'd let you have all the sand you need... calx parietis, servo nos ex malum, verto malum tergum in is quisnam iacio!"

To Gaara's surprise even his chakra-infused sand began to slip from his control. He concentrated, and soon the sand was as submissive to his will as ever. He hurled forward a shower of sand at the girl.

She ducked and repeated the incantation. The sand grains began fusing with the rock she stood on. Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"Keep 'em coming, boy," challenged Fujiko, experiencing the same euphoria of spellcasting she had been in love with since she knew she was a witch. Umeka was the only other person who understood, perfectly, because they were always in sync, and such spellcasting was beneath them. They were one person split in two – even now she could feel her twin's energies flowing into her, charging into her, gushing raw magical ability and letting her take control. "Goddess... I love this feeling."

Gaara didn't respond. He merely made a gesture in the air. "Ryusa Bakuryu."

"What-" Before she could utter another syllable Umeka pulled her twin up and away. Bearing her and all the other witches were six huge vultures. Fujiko controlled her gag reflex. "What the hell just happened?"

"Look." Fujiko looked down at where Umeka was pointing, and her blood ran cold.

The area was flooded with sand.

"Alrighty ladies, my turn to play," said an arrogant voice from somewhere beneath Dai's ride. "Kankurou's the name, killing's the game. Who's up?"

"Arrogant fool," snarled Hoshiko. She drew two symbols in the air between her and the ninja, before uttering, "Fiat lux!"

A blinding flash smashed across Kankurou's vision. Startled, he threw his arm up to protect his vision, only to lose his grip. He slid off the bird and fell – onto a platform of sand.

"Thanks, Gaara," he told his brother. Baki was beside his student, an expression of extreme focus. Kankurou gritted his teeth as he stood up. "Bitch has a few tricks."

"They're quite powerful, Kankurou," corrected Gaara calmly. "No one has ever broken my hold on my sand before."

Baki nodded assent. "They're used to working as a team. But it's a large group, and I think the two older women are the leaders of the coven. If we can disable either of them, half the battle's won."

Gaara made no reply. He turned suddenly to face the east.

"What?" Baki asked.

Kankurou saw the shadows before his teacher did. "It's those Konoha shinobi, Baki-sensei."

"'Bout damn time," muttered Baki beneath his breath when he saw Kakashi leading the pack.


	23. Mirror Eye Chapter 23

"Gaara!" called out Naruto and Sasuke.

A sand platform formed at the edge of the sand flooding the open space. Kakashi and Temari stepped on immediately, followed by the rest.

"Situation."

Baki updated Kakashi in a few sentences, while Shikamaru observed the surrounds. So they had an animal tamer, a plant manipulator, a rock manipulator, a fire user, a light user and a mind controller. Formidable opponents.

Almost unconsciously a smile formed on his lips. "Sasuke, you said you'd been under someone's mangekyo before. Did you break out of it or what?"

"I was released from the jutsu," answered Sasuke, slightly bitterly. "But then, I was very young at the time."

"Hmmm..." Shikamaru's brows creased slightly. "Okay, game plan."

Baki looked surprised at Shikamaru's initiative and glanced at Kakashi. The white-haired jounin shrugged.

Gaara said, "Let's hear it."

"Can you take the rock manipulator, Gaara-san?" asked Shikamaru tentatively. He still wasn't sure where he stood with the psychotic ninja, and the horrors of the brutal murders mere months ago still stood fresh in his mind.

Gaara nodded. Shikamaru continued, "Kankurou-san, you and Gaara-san have worked together most often, so I think it's going to be up to you two to take down Fujiko." Kankurou didn't look pleased; Gaara would be more than able to take down the girl by himself.

"Baki-san, your wind blades are more effective than our attacks with the plants, so please show Sasuke how to fight." Sasuke opened his mouth to protest but shut it. "His fire-based jutsus should work well with yours."

"Naruto, you were telling me about this rasengan thingy. Can you and Sakura take down Umeka?" Sakura nodded and Naruto grinned confidently. "Make sure she doesn't get anywhere near the woods; there are wolves in these parts. Temari, you and me will fight Hoshiko. Her light-based spells should give me an adequate supply of shadows. You can shield us with that oversized fan of yours."

"Kakashi-sensei, you'll have to deal with Dai." Having issued the other shinobi with commands, Shikamaru found himself unable to speak more. The masked man nodded his understanding, and said, "I'll remember the mission."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Umeka thanked the vultures while the rest tried not to retch with the stench.

Toshi stood up first. "They're coming."

"How do you know?"

"I feel them," she answered simply. Aisa dragged another protective circle about them. Toshi smiled humorlessly. "I think I'm sick of this. Let's go all out."

"Special effects all out?" asked Dai. Her fingers twitched in anticipation.

"Yes." Toshi had no smile on her face now. "Let's kick their butts."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi reminded himself to be restrained, but it was hard not to tear into them the moment he saw the witches standing confidently within their so-called sacred circle.

"I suggest you wait," said Gaara beside him. "There's no point doing anything now that would risk your lady's life."

Kakashi bristled and deflated in an instant. The kid was right.

"What do you jerks want now?" said Dai as she stood defiant before the rest of the coven. Her hands wove the spell again and the shinobi leaped apart to avoid blue-hot flames bursting out of the ground.

-----

Gaara made to advance on the girl who challenged him earlier, but was stopped. His gaze was drawn to another woman, pale and proud. Her eyes, blank and unseeing, drew him in...

"Don't look!" cried out Shikamaru, but it was too late: Gaara crumbled to the ground, eyes open and equally blank. Shikamaru cursed inventively.

Kankurou snorted and unslung his puppet. Guess he had to fight after all.

-----

Dai avoided the column of water that rushed at her. How the hell did he summon that amount of water from nowhere?

She muttered again, and ten large balls of flame arrowed in on him from different directions. For a second she thought he had been too stunned, but when he burned up like a twig she realized that he had already escaped her attack and was now biding his time.

"Shit," swore Dai, letting her fireballs arc through the forest, burning as they went. Aisa would not like it, but there really was no other way.

-----

Aisa was pissed.

First she had been very upset with the business about the baby and all, and now this man and this boy were chopping through her attacks with hardly any difficulty. That was not good. Out of the corner of her eye she saw flames licking up her precious plants.

_Dammit, Dai, you promised!_

She gritted her teeth and strengthened the protective barrier. In a way it was much easier than directing attacks; the magic they practiced were nurturing, not destructive, even though Hoshiko had been right about destruction forming a vital link between death and life.

She persevered on, ignoring the pain shooting up into her soul when a vine twisted and burned into ashes when that Uchiha boy let loose a long stream of fire, abetted by the man's wind blades.

-----

Fujiko now danced out of the way of the puppet's arms, disgusted by the incessant clicking. She spared a glance for Umeka, and was glad to see her twin holding her own.

Kankurou twitched his fingers a fraction to the right, and a spray of needles shot out of Karasu's mouth. Fujiko felt one grazed her skin, and hastily offered a supplication to Phoebus to accelerate healing. It wouldn't do to fall now. Even as she finished her thought, a spray of purple fumes knocked her out cold.

"Gotcha!" Kankurou cheered himself. He dusted himself off, and looked around. _Damn, everyone's too busy with their own fights to know I've won. Sheesh – that's what effort and planning gets you._

-----

"You sure about this?" Shikamaru asked Temari again.

She glared at him. "If you ask one more time, I'd whack your head off with my oversized and _very heavy_ fan. Just act at the opportune moment."

-----

_It was darker than Gaara remembered._

_There was no light in his room; hadn't Uncle Yashamaru turned on the electric lights yet?_

_Then he remembered: Yashamaru was dead. Three nights ago, his uncle had died by his hand, another victim in the assassination game between his father and himself._

_There was a brief surge of emotion that Gaara ruthlessly repressed._

_Never again would he feel for anyone – their deaths were but testimony to his being. Their deaths meant he was alive._

_His mother's death, his uncle's death, the deaths of various other men and women... all served as traces of his existence. Or else... he was nothing but a shadow._

"_Gaara," someone called from the hallway. _

_Temari, Gaara thought. He walked out the door._

_And stepped into a forest._

_A bloodstained boy lay on the ground, a boy with yellow hair and a fierce gaze. He was saying something but Gaara could not hear it. He walked closer, tentatively, afraid to hear the exact words of the boy. What was his name now?_

_Before he could recall, his hand stretched out and began to form the seal for the Desert Coffin. Horrified, Gaara tried to pull his hand back, but realized it was too late: sand covered the boy and smothered him. In the next instant his right fist contracted and blood sprayed across his face. Warm, wet, sticky blood. Its coppery tang mingled with the salt of tears running down his face._

_Tears?_

_Gaara sat down. He sat down in a pool of blood._

_He lifted his right palm: a mirror lay in his hand. He saw a face not his own looking at him. He had seen it before: on the nights he had fallen asleep involuntarily, and woke up screaming within seconds._

"_Shukaku."_

"_Boy." The monster grinned evilly. "What are you worried about, boy? It was just another kid."_

"_No, that was... that wasn't just some kid, that was..."_

"_Who was that then, boy?" Shukaku cackled. It flexed its claws and suddenly stretched out of the mirror. The monster's body distorted itself out of the glass surface; Gaara backed away in fear._

_Was it fear? He'd never analyzed the feeling before, but it caught his breath and made his forehead bead with perspiration. His pulse accelerated. Shukaku loomed over Gaara, placing one of its huge paws on one side of its prison. "Who was that kid, boy?"_

"_He's... he's someone I... know..."_

"_That narrows it down then, eh? After all, you've offered an ugly death to everyone you've met. Not that I'm complaining, mind," the raccoon monster snuffled a laugh that grated across Gaara's nerves. "I've had some of the best times when you're killing. All that delicious blood...What's one boy, more or less?"_

"_Everything," whispered Gaara. The kid's fierce gaze was very familiar, and he had made Gaara realize something very important. Very important to his existence, something that extended beyond killing as a reaffirmation of self, something about caring and loving..._

"_That's not who you are," interrupted the Shukaku. "You'll always be a killer, boy. It's in the blood. It'll always be in the blood." _

_It bent its hideous snout down on a level with Gaara, and lapped up the pool of blood at his feet. Gaara looked down and saw his reflection break into ripples. The red kanji on his forehead seemed to glow in the pool. "You know yourself, boy, just like I know you. You are who you are, that's why you still stand here. The stuff that boy said? It's not who you are."_

_Gaara suddenly looked into the monster's face. "You're right; that's not who I am." He stood up and turned his back on the one-tailed monster. "But that's who I want to be."_

_He walked on, trying to find the exit, ignoring the mocking, screeching laugh behind him._

-----

_I've cast the mirror eye too often these few days; I'm weaker than I thought_, Toshi realized as her hold on the boy's mind faltered. _Or else he's had an epiphany_. She cast her mind about for magical support.

Hoshiko had conjured a number of glowing orbs about herself, and they were attacking the fan-wielding kunoichi. Having no physical form, the lights could not be blown away and Temari was very irritated by the lack of success. She badly wanted to escalate the conflict, but could not risk blowing her unconscious brother away.

"Dammit, Shikamaru, you'd better attack soon!" she fumed, then realized she was counting on a boy she had detested not a few months ago. _Dammit girl, you can take care of this yourself. She's not even a shinobi, for gossakes!_

But years of travelling and filming had honed Hoshiko's reflexes. Again and again her lights darted about Temari, and whenever the orbs touched her Temari felt a sizzle that ran right through her.

Suddenly Hoshiko stopped moving. Temari saw the opening and, using the frame of her fan, knocked Hoshiko out cold. The shadow linking her to the figure in the dark withdrew.

"Ouch?" whimpered Shikamaru, having been knocked off his feet as well. "You remembered that I suffer the same as my victims?"

Temari looked at him. He really was an idiot sometimes. "Why do you think I hit her as hard as I did?"


	24. Mirror Eye Chapter 24

Kakashi grew impatient. He'd promised Shikamaru to wait until the boy had taken down his opponent before he defeated Dai, but it was growing tiresome. He saw Hoshiko falling.

He waited for Dai to unleash another stream of flames before moving himself to a location just behind her, and gave her a sharp chop behind her ear.

Dai folded up without a sound.

-----

Sasuke's respect for Baki grew reluctantly but rapidly. Soon they had cornered Aisa, and as she ducked to avoid the shuriken Sasuke threw at her Baki materialized beside Aisa and knocked her out. He caught the slight girl as she collapsed.

-----

Sakura's frustration mounted. She and Naruto were still struggling with their opponent, even though Umeka wasn't exactly the most powerful enemy she'd met.

It was humiliating.

"Naruto, stop fooling around!" yelled Sakura angrily. Even she could see that the blond was not giving his all, an unusual situation for a fight. Sakura shook the little moths out of her hair; she was definitely going to take a good long shower after this.

Umeka thumped the ground four times, and suddenly out of every single crevice long wriggly things swarmed out.

Sakura shrieked. Naruto nearly fainted with fear – he hated snakes, especially after being swallowed by one.

"God I hate snakes," muttered Sakura as she took refuge with Naruto on a tree branch. She was trembling, the picture of a weak mouse. Her eyes were fixed on the writhing mass beneath the trees. Naruto called up a clone and they began forming the rasenga. Sakura was still shaking badly.

Thinking she needed some reassurance, Naruto grinned weakly. "At least they're not huge snakes...?"

"Not if they're tiny snakes masquerading as carpeting!" screamed Sakura. She hurtled down the trunk and ran straight at Umeka. Umeka was stunned but before she could dodge, Sakura laid her out with a textbook punch.

Naruto sat on the branch and swallowed. The rasengan died off. "Note to self: never piss Sakura off," he said in an undertone to no one in particular.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The others were restrained and gagged. Having knocked most of them unconscious, the shinobi gathered around. Only one witch was still awake.

Kakashi reined his temper in when he saw Toshi still standing, defiant and arrogant. His hands twitched, remembering the stillness of his girlfriend in his arms, her shallow breathing, her non-response to his voice, her open, staring eyes.

"Undo the spell," he hissed at her. Gaara now leaned against a rock, catching his breath. He had woken up from his trance state, barely holding it together, and his siblings had rushed to him to ensure the Shukaku remained buried. Toshi looked into his face and laughed out loud.

Kakashi grabbed her by her shoulders, his fingers digging into her. "Undo the spell you set on Aya, bitch, or else I'll tear. You. Apart. With. My. Bare. Hands." With each word his grip tightened until she cried out, but abruptly she dissolved into laughter again.

"I already lost control of the spell, Kakashi-san," she gasped the words out. "She's stuck in her own mind, and it has nothing to do with me. She doesn't want to come back, she wants to hide inside. It's her mind you're fighting, not me."

"Bitch, you release her right now!" Kakashi backhanded her, hard. Toshi flew and collided with the ground. Kakashi gathered his chakra in his right fist, ready to punch it straight through the witch's evil, lying face...

Toshi smiled up at him. "You should see your aura right now, Kakashi-san. So pure, so brilliant... it's a fresh wound in the fabric of the world." She started laughing again, great gasping sobs racking her body.

The two teams looked at her and at Kakashi. She was unhinged, that much was plain. Sakura suddenly turned away from the sight. Sasuke placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

Kakashi advanced on the madwoman. "You will tell me how to break the spell. And you will die a clean, easy death."

"I fear nothing, remember?" mocked the blind woman. "And I know I won't die alone either."

"I hope you have to endure the spell you said your mother had endured -"

"That was a lie, stupid. There are no souls in this world or the next, this is the body we have," snarled Toshi. "We were about to create the eternal being when you and your litter of pups broke her, broke all of us. And you think I fear death? The final sacrifice was me and Hoshiko, you stupid bastard!"

Kakashi slammed an open hand across her jaw. The onlookers heard something crack and Temari winced. "You think I'm a fool? Then think how much a fool I am when I slice-"

"Shut up," said Shikamaru, stepping up. He interposed his body between Kakashi and his prey. "We can take all of them back to Konoha. Tsunade-sama will make sure they face the proper authorities, Kakashi-sensei. Don't. Waste. It. On her." He looked into the silver eye and silently pleaded.

Naruto swallowed. "Kakashi-sensei, we're not that far from Konohagakure. I'm sure that we can find a way to... y'know, we'll definitely save Fukuda-san."

The awkward silence that fell dissolved the tension in Kakashi's shoulders. Sasuke quickly picked up the now-unconscious witch and placed her with her coven.

Kakashi walked away, to the edge of the clearing, and sat down facing the direction of Konoha. From this distance he could see nothing, but his mind stretched the miles across to Aya. She was probably being tended to by Tsunade and Shizune's team.

Sasuke looked away from his teacher's silence. With a nod to his teammates, Sakura and Naruto followed his lead to give their sensei some space to brood. They hauled the witches up, Naruto's shadow clones bearing the burnt of the burdens.

Gaara staggered to his feet. Kankurou helped him up and, with a nod to Baki and a half-grin at Temari, the two brothers took the same path as Team Seven. Baki patted Kakashi on his shoulder, trying to convey his best wishes. He reached Kankurou and helped to support Gaara on the other side.

Temari made to follow her team, but was stopped in her tracks by a shadow at her feet. Shikamaru looked at her, a silent plea for her to wait. Temari sighed and nodded. Shikamaru walked up to Kakashi and told him when they'd be leaving the next day. Kakashi waved him off.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why'd you want me to stay?" Temari demanded in a low voice when she and Shikamaru reached the shelter of the woods.

"It would be worse if I'd spoken to him by myself. Then I wouldn't know if I should stay beside him or leave."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Why me then?"

"It's easier to walk through a dark forest with you than with the others."

"That's not an answer."

"I'm not giving one."

Shikamaru and Temari stepped gingerly across crushed bracken and tree roots, each focused on the other's proximity, neither saying another word.


	25. Mirror Eye Chapter 25

A/N: Some punishment/bondage going on later from here. Won't be too graphic, but if you're uncomfortable with BDSM you might want to wait until chapter 27. If you have to ask what BDSM is, you're too young. Wait for chapter 26.

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"You wanted to see me, Tsunade-sama?"

"Sit down Kakashi." The Hokage was unusually somber. She placed a mug opposite the jounin. "Have a drink."

"What is it about?"

The Hokage sighed. "A number of issues." Kakashi leaned back in the chair. He knew it was coming for the past week; it was only a matter of how severe the scolding would be.

"Firstly, your behavior during the mission. It was, frankly, unacceptable. I thought you would have demonstrated better control over your own emotions, Kakashi," said Tsunade, her eyes grave. "But I accept that there were mitigating circumstances, so I shall just make a small note of this in your records."

"Secondly, it's about the witches."

Kakashi's shoulders tensed. "What about them?"

"The leaders – Toshi and Hoshiko – killed themselves last night." At Kakashi's vindicated look, she snapped, "They should've faced the judgment of their victims' families, not the right to kill themselves!"

"What about the rest?" asked Kakashi. His fingers flexed and tightened. That witch had caused him quite a bit of heartache, and he badly wanted to kill her himself. He still didn't know what the ritual was for, and he had lost all interest in the answer.

"The twins face the gallows in the capital city. And the teenagers are going to serve twenty-five to life sentences for aiding and abetting the kidnap and murder of baby Yumi Morioka."

"Good. They should pay."

"You're not supposed to be a vindictive person, Kakashi."

The quiet of the office turned into tension. Tsunade broke the silence first. "There is the third thing, which I want you to listen very calmly to."

"What wrong with Aya?" Kakashi shotupright in his chair.

"I said 'listen calmly'. If you won't heed my advice I'd punch you into unconsciousness myself." Tsunade sipped her tea. "She's been catatonic for a week. ANBU and medic can't break into her mind. I can't even find signs of mental activity. Kakashi, as a doctor I think she's -"

"She isn't," stated Kakashi icily.

Tsunade slammed her desk. The table splintered apart. Papers and folders fluttered to the ground. "Stop fooling yourself, Hatake Kakashi! Aya Fukuda's mind is dead, there is nothing there to revive! Stop thinking that this is a story and that she's a princess you can wake with a kiss!"

Kakashi got to his feet as well. He looked at his superior and saw the concern beneath the brusqueness. "Tsunade-sama, I'm not denying anything because I want it to be so. I just know she's still fighting, alright? She hadn't had the training – the training Gaara and myself have had, the strengthening of will and mind. But I know Aya. She's not one to give up. That's why she risked her life coming all the way out to the desert, that was why she came to beg you for details of my mission, that was why we... that is why I love her. She wants something, she won't give up."

"What if she wanted death, Kakashi?" That quietly brutal sentence stabbed into his heart. Kakashi swallowed the furious retort.

He turned on his heel and marched out of the Hokage's office.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where's Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-san?" Lee asked as they jogged around the track.

Sakura sighed a little. "He's holed up in the medical library, as he was yesterday, and the day before. Either that or he's researching the sharingan abilities. I just wished he'd let us help him research, but he turned us down."

"It must really be painful for him to be at a loss, Sakura-san."

"I guess. I haven't lost anyone close to me before. Or yet."

"Me neither."

Lee and Sakura ran on quietly, matching step for step.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where's Kakashi, Asuma?" asked Kurenai as they walked down the winding path. She held the bouquet he gave in her arms loosely.

Asuma exhaled the cigarette smoke. "He's still in the library, when I checked out a book this afternoon."

"I wish there was some way we could help him," murmured Kurenai as Asuma pulled her closer. The two of them strolled on, arm in arm, praying for their colleague.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke pulled the hidden scroll from his storeroom. It was an old one, and he wondered if he should show Kakashi. Right now only he and his brot – that man knew of its existence. It listed a lot of information about the sharingan. It could help.

But it was the secret of the Uchiha family, wasn't it?

------------------------------------------------------------------

Iruka walked, with Naruto's aid, to Aya's ward. They saw a silver-haired jounin sitting beside the bed.

Iruka and Naruto paused by the door. Kakashi held Aya's fingers in his own, as he combed through her dark curls with his other hand. Unable to hold back the emotion, Naruto turned away and tried to stifle his tears.

"It's alright, Naruto, Iruka, come on in," said Kakashi without turning around.

"You look horrible, Kakashi," chided Iruka gently. He placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Naruto stood behind his sensei and sniffled a little.

Kakashi gave his student a hug, a silent thank you for his support. Iruka smiled sadly and led Naruto out of the ward.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"You're insane," said Tsunade.

"I've thought about this. Send me in."

"I won't risk losing you to such a stupid venture!" yelled the Hokage. Shizune shrank against the wall. Accustomed as she was to Tsunade's outbursts, she had seldom seen such pain and anger directed at anyone.

Kakashi stood his ground. "She has no family here, the only one she's close to is me. If it doesn't work, pull my mind out again. I'm sure ANBU can do that."

"You might get stuck as well, Kakashi."

"Then at least I'm stuck with the woman I love," retorted Kakashi heatedly. He softened. "Let me try, at least."

Tsunade looked away and gritted her teeth. "I hope I don't regret this. Shizune, bring her to the special room. Get medic Team One in on this."

"Yes, Ma'am."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

_There is no room for error._

_Three hours and thirty-four minutes, no longer._

_We will keep a light trace in your mind._

_You must be sure that you are you, none other._

_Even if it doesn't work, we will rescue you._

Kakashi let the advice wash over him, a monotonous symphony of negativity. He sat beside Aya, his left hand on her forehead. His eyes watched Tsunade set up the room with crystals and Shizune paint the sealing wards about the perimeter.

"You'll focus on the flaw in the crystal I give you, and then you'll go under," said Tsunade for the third time. "Shizune will monitor your physical responses and I will maintain the watch on your mind. And Kakashi?"

The jounin looked at the Hokage. She had a very tender smile on her face, tinged with worry and understanding. "Be careful, Kakashi."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

_The world was a wash of pain. Kakashi walked down an unfamiliar path, only to see it end in a small hut._

_There was a small girl seated at the doorstep. Without asking, Kakashi knew that was Aya. He'd met her before._

"_Hey."_

"_Hi," said child-Aya. She had dark, bouncing curls and a wide, gap-toothed smile. Kakashi felt a surge of affection for her. "Who are you?"_

"_I'm Kakashi."_

"_That's a funny name," she giggled. Suddenly she stood up and ran into the house. Kakashi followed. He knew what was coming._

_Inside the house was a stone dungeon. He would see her._

_He turned and saw Aya chained to the wall. Adult Aya, not child-Aya. Naked, with lash marks crisscrossing her torso and legs. Scores of scars, some too fresh. _

_He ran to her, and saw, with the same horror, burn marks across her breasts and limbs. Kakashi choked back a cry._

_Aya looked up, one of her brilliant amber-golden eyes milky and blind. "You did this. You hurt me."_

"_I didn't, love, I swear I didn't," Kakashi recoiled._

"_And how are we today, pet?" A familiar voice resounded across the dungeon. "Have we been a good little girl for her daddy?"_

_Kakashi strode in, in a black leather outfit. _Kinky_, thought Kakashi – real Kakashi – humorlessly. _

_But there was something fundamentally wrong about the other Kakashi: he was hard, and cold, and cruel._

_That was Kakashi when he was younger, a Kakashi in the world of death and destruction, in ANBU. He stood right before Aya, his mask brushing her cheek. Oddly her face was unblemished, save for the blinded eye. Aya whimpered and tried to lean away._

"_I asked nicely, Aya-chan. You want me to ask again?" The other Kakashi squeezed her exposed breast. "You want to be punished for not answering, hmm?"_

_Aya drew in a shuddering gasp – not of desire or lust, as she had often done in the waking world, but intense pain – and replied weakly, "I've been a very, very good girl, daddy."_

"_Liar." Nightmare-Kakashi punctuated the comment with a lash to Aya's legs. Kakashi tried to interpose himself between the battered Aya and the distorted image of herself, but he was like a shadow: the lash whistled past him again and again. She screamed, then cried out, then softened to a whimper. Nightmare-Kakashi pushed himself against Aya, his hand sliding up between her thighs. His touch drew Aya back to herself, and the pain. "Tell me again: have you been a good girl?"_

"_No, I haven't," said Aya dully. She licked her lips._

_The other Kakashi ran the lash slowly across her raw nipples and then kissed her on her lips. When he pulled away, Kakashi saw blood spilling from her lower . "Now, what shall we play today, Aya-chan? Daddy's bored."_

_Kakashi saw the nightmare Kakashi gaze at a wall of implements. Blunt, sharp, hot, cold... they were all arrayed there on the stone wall._

"_He's gonna hurt her again," said a child's voice. Child-Aya sat on the stairs where Nightmare-Kakashi came from. She held up her hand to Kakashi. "You can't help her here."_

_This part was new._

"_Where can I help her then?" It tore at Kakashi to leave her here, but he knew he was wasting time. He had to find her real subconscious, not this nightmare implanted by that Toshi woman._

_He'd seen this the last time the witch gave him a glimpse. It had hurt him then, and it hurt him now._

_He followed child-Aya solemnly up the stairs, into the bookshop._

_He could still hear the screams._


	26. Mirror Eye Chapter 26

_It was dusk here._

_Always dusk, with the warm golden lights streaming in from the tiny window high up the wall in the storeroom._

_It would be dark in the actual store._

_Kakashi knew the place like the back of Aya's hand – the little scar on her index finger from an overenthusiastic puppy, the slim fingers and short nails. Aya was too high-strung to have long fingernails; she'd start chewing on them. Kakashi had a hard but memorable time breaking that nasty habit._

_Aya was there, closing a thick atlas on her lap. Her eyes lost focus for a moment, and then she stood up and placed the book on the shelf._

_Child-Aya led Kakashi out of the bookstore into the open._

_-------------------------------------_

_He saw a seaside, with a bleached hut along the shore. He smelt the brine in the air, and the graininess of sand below his suddenly bare feet. It was too real to be a dream; this was memory._

_He looked up and saw a slim figure in the near distance. Aya stood at the foot of the steps to the hut, and Kakashi saw a man exit and catch Aya up in his arms. A man with long, blonde hair and well-developed muscles – muscles that came from hard toil and sweat, not from a gym. _

_Kakashi felt the ire and bile rise within._

_The jounin ran forward and threw a punch at the man; the punch went right through him. Kakashi was as insubstantial as fog. He stared at the pair: the stranger, with his Aya._

_Then Kakashi looked, really looked at the girl again._

_This Aya was a lot younger, perhaps sixteen or seventeen. Her hair was longer and sun-bleached, her skin far darker than it was in Konoha._

_As he observed her she planted a kiss, a deep one, on the stranger's mouth. The couple laughed merrily and he led her down the sandy path, an arm twined about her waist. Kakashi felt a lump in his throat and a stab in his gut. Then he backed away, trying not to stumble._

_She had never looked like that at him. Not once._

_-------------------------------------_

_He followed at a close distance, trying to hold back the jealous rage that threaten to overwhelm him._

_They were at a dock. She and the man kissed again. The man walked up a plank to a ship, and waved farewell from the deck._

_Kakashi saw the sheen of tears Aya was hiding from her man. She was hiding her fear, as she still did whenever he went on missions. He saw that and his love for her bravery surged. She always put him first._

_He recalled the time the new shipment of Icha Icha arrived. Although there was a long waiting list, Aya had locked up the shop and trudged the five miles from the gates to locate the nasty bog where Kakashi and Team Seven were digging up rubbish. Just to make sure he had the first issue._

_She had even stayed to help them with their task._

_Kakashi tried to caress the worry line on her forehead, but his hand went though her. Soon the ship cast off and Aya stood alone at the dock, with the insubstantial shadow of Kakashi beside her._

_-------------------------------------_

_Kakashi followed Aya back to the hut, and walked through the door._

_They were back in the shop._

_He saw her sitting in the tall chair, placed conveniently where she could monitor the entire shop. Her dark hair curled over her shoulder. She looked up from the atlas she was reading, and focused elsewhere. Then she shut the book and placed it on a shelf._

_Kakashi shook his head in bewilderment. _Déjà vu_, he decided, then remembered he was in a dream and so such situations were common._

_He walked into the storeroom, only to find it had turned into the bookstore, on a different day._

_-------------------------------------_

_"I'm not asking you to marry me, just to tell them that I'm taken," said Aya firmly. "Do you know how bad I feel, having to keep turning down Iruka, Guy, Shiranui? The lies and excuses I keep giving…If you'd just allow me to tell the truth-"_

_"We've been through this before, Aya. No." Kakashi had been implacable, he remembered. But he hadn't realized the hurt that flashed across her eyes at the time. "It'll put you at unnecessary risk."_

_"Unnecessary risk of what, K? We're dating, that's not a reason for the earth to end or anything."_

_" It's not like that," Kakashi chewed on his lower lip and closed his eyes. He trotted out the same, old, tired argument. "If enemies found out what you mean to me, they could attack you or kidnap or something to, to threaten me, us."_

_"Well we're safe then, aren't we? Since only two human beings on this planet know about us, we should be perfectly fine." She turned away from Kakashi. Aya then stood up. "I'm not even sure if I know about us anymore. I just wish... I'm tired, I'm going home."_

_"Want me to send you home the fast way?" The Kakashi in Aya's dream was aghast at how insensitive he'd been. If he'd seen then the sheen of tears that he could see now…_

_"It's alright, I'm pretty sure I can walk from here to my address _safely. _We're still in Konoha, after all," Aya had bitten off the sentence tartly. She exited, leaving the store unlocked._

_Kakashi remembered how he'd just locked up the store and went home by himself. That night he'd had a visit from Reina, and the strain from the previous months culminated in the breaking point of Aya's patience and understanding._

_-------------------------------------_

_I've been such a fool, Kakashi thought as he followed the dream Aya along her path. She was crying, her shoulders shaking. Kakashi tried to put an arm about her, but he was as tangible as fog._

_He was surprised to see Shiranui approaching from the opposite side. He had no senbon in his mouth, an unusual thing. He saw Aya from across the street. "Hey, Aya!"_

_She hastily wiped away her tears. "Hey."_

_"What's wrong?" Shiranui tilted his face to look at her. Her eyes were puffy and red; it was kind of hard to disguise the fact she was crying. "Hey, you need a cup of tea or something?"_

_"Stop hitting on her, jerk!" Kakashi yelled at his colleague, with the same effect of a fruit fly swatting a truck._

_"It's okay, I just need to get home," smiled Aya weakly._

_Shiranui walked beside her, his lidded eyes mirroring the concern in Kakashi's. "I volunteer myself as escort."_

_"Thanks, Shiranui."_

_-------------------------------------_

_Kakashi stood behind the two, glaring useless daggers at Shiranui._

_He could not believe what he was seeing. Shiranui had enticed Aya to drop by a bar and got her to vent her frustrations via alcohol. A lot of alcohol._

_She was now leaning against him to get to her place, and he was taking the chance to wrap his filthy arms about her. She was clearly intoxicated: even with the shinobi supporting her she was unsteady._

_"Here we are," Shiranui said, taking the key Aya tried to insert into the keyhole. He helped her in and, instead of coming out again, closed the door behind him. Kakashi was locked out. _

"Shiranui is so dead,_" Kakashi fumed. "_If this is a memory I can then walk into the room through that door_." _

_He drew a breath, braced himself, and walked into the door._

_-------------------------------------_

_And out the other side into a familiar space._

_Again he stood in the bookshop, again he saw her placing the atlas on the shelf after spacing out for a few seconds._

_This time Aya saw him._

_"Hey."_

_"You see me."_

_"That's because you're here." Aya half-smiled and went past the storeroom door. Kakashi followed at her heels._

_Behind the door was a flight of steps leading into a stone dungeon._

_"You don't want to go down there, Aya."_

_"I have to," she stated in a whisper. "I have to be punished."_

_"For what? Aya, trust me: don't go down there." He grabbed her arm, but she shook him off and ran down the steps. "AYA!"_

_"I'm a bad girl…I've been a bad girl," Aya repeated as she swayed against her chains. She had no scars or marks on her now._

_Kakashi tore at the chains holding her. "Let's go, Aya."_

_"I have to stay. I've been bad, I've done wrong, I need to be punished."_

_"Whatever you did, I forgive you," Kakashi said, holding her by her shoulders, looking into her amber-gold eyes. "There is no need to be punished by some psycho version of me!"_

_"You don't understand. I need to be punished. It's not about you, K, it's about me. I hurt people because of what I did."_

_"What? Aya, no," he saw a whip materializing in his hand. "There is no punishment, okay? You want to have bondage fun, we do it out of your mind." _

That sounded way more decent in my own head, _Kakashi thought._

_Aya just looked at him. Slowly her left eye turned milky white, and to his horror welts and scars began fading into her skin. "No… no, no, no," insisted Kakashi. "We are not going into this, not here, not now."_

_"Here, and now, K. There really isn't any time better. We're all here-" the faux-Kakashi walked in, all leather and attitude "-and here's where we can get all the answers."_

_"Who's a bad girl?" purred the other Kakashi. Real Kakashi groaned inwardly; not this again._

_The real one stepped back, trying to work some moisture into his mouth. _Here's where we can get all the answers.

_Suddenly he realized he had been asking the wrong questions._


	27. Mirror Eye Chapter 27

_He took one look at the repeat performance and took the stairs up._

Ah. As I expected.

_Back to the bookstore. Aya was sitting in the tall chair again, closing that damn atlas again, shelving it again._

"_What's so special about this particular moment, Aya?" Kakashi asked._

"_I realized something," answered Aya, still looking at the bookshelf. Kakashi stepped up behind her._

_When he spoke, it was a low whisper. "What did you realize?"_

"_I realized I loved you." _

_That was unexpected. Kakashi took a breath and asked again, still firmly, still gently. "Why does that mean you need to punish yourself?"_

"_Because I wasn't supposed to," Aya replied to the books before her. Her hands were still on the atlas's spine._

"_Why weren't you supposed to, Aya? What has the atlas got to do with it?"_

"_It has ocean charts, shipping lines."_

"_This has something to do with the man on the beach."_

"_He was my fiancé. We were to be married after he returned from that trip, but he didn't make it back." Her whisper was agitated and Kakashi saw her hands trembling. "He died."_

"_Then why can't you love me, Aya?"_

"_Because he was killed by a ninja, K." Her statement was delivered in a flat tone. "He stood between a ninja and the person the ninja meant to assassinate, and was killed. Regardless of his bravery, regardless of his life beyond that ship, he was killed. And tossed overboard, like so much trash._

"_I found his bloated body, washed up near our house. I couldn't recognize it but for the chipped tooth and our engagement ring. I wanted to stay there, but my uncle insisted I needed space away from ... from where we planned our lives together. He said I was too focused on death and not enough on living..."_

_Kakashi waited. She had been waiting for his questions._

"_Then I came, and he gave me the shop, and then, the first afternoon... I thought I would go mad, but you came in. You were so charming, and interesting... I got diverted from – from him._

"_And then we kept meeting each other,, and you were handsome, and kind, and smart... and before I knew it I found myself thinking less and less of him, and more and more of you."_

_Her fingers curled into a fist; the knuckles whitened. "Then one afternoon, I sat there, and I was browsing the atlas, tracing the shipping lines... Only after I had returned it then I realized I wasn't thinking of him, but of you, of you on your mission to Wave country. I'd forgotten him, K, I'd forgotten that I was his fiancée and, and he died in the hands of shinobi... I forgot everything."_

"_And that means you have to be punished with chains and whips? Aya that is insane!"_

_Aya looked straight into the floor. "Because I forgot, I felt so guilty then... I used a flimsy excuse to, to push you away, and then you got into... When I saw... I had to leave, I couldn't face..." She started to cry. "Reina told me what she was planning to do, to become... what they had to do to you, to the kids... I brought this on us, I killed all of you, the baby, you, the kids... I did it, K, I caused us to die because I forgot him!"_

_Kakashi turned her around and held the shaking girl by the shoulders. He waited until she looked into his face. "Aya, listen to me," he began. Then he took a deep breath._

"_You are the stupidest, most ridiculous woman I have ever met. For this little thing you punish yourself?" He hissed through his teeth. "We. Are. Not. Dead. We made it, Aya. It wasn't your fault. you had nothing to do with their plans, okay? We aren't dead. But he is. You can't bring him back no matter how long you dedicate yourself, your heart, your everything to him, so stop wallowing in self-flagellation and guilt!" Kakashi let go of her. "I'm gonna walk out the main door, and you're gonna follow me."_

"_I can't."_

"_Aya. You will follow me out that door. Because I love you," He turned away, knowing this was one of the hardest trials of trust he had to face. "That's why I'm going."_


	28. Chapter 28: ending

Kakashi woke up in the same chair.

Tsunade was sitting on the opposite side of the bed, monitoring Aya's vitals. She saw his eye open and smiled. "Three hours and twenty-nine seconds."

"That long? It felt shorter."

"Speak for yourself," a hoarse, weak voice croaked from the pillows. Aya Fukuda looked up at her lover. "Hey."

"Hey."

Then Aya burst into tears.

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_One day later..._

"Kakashi, I swear I didn't do anything improper," said Shiranui, his hands raised in innocence.

Kakashi twirled the two kunai in his right hand. "Stay still, Shiranui, or else I might just miss my target and hit something important."

The other jounin bit his senbon as Kakashi hurled the weapons at him, thunking into the two apples balanced on each shoulder. There was one more on his head. "Kakashi, I didn't know she was your girl, and secondly, nothing happened. Really! Go ask her!"

"She can't remember, since you so conveniently got her _drunk," _Kakashi growled. "Stop inching away. I haven't even started shuriken practice. And frankly, if you had done anything..."

Shiranui groaned even as the next kunai speared the apple off his head.

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"K, I don't get it," said Aya. "Why didn't your team blab since they saw me visiting you guys on that hideous swamp mission?"

"I don't know, Aya. Maybe they just felt we deserved some privacy."

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Sakura burnt the last of the photos. Ino and Tenten sat next to the small bonfire, disappointed.

"We really should have just broadcast the news and not, y'know, waste time taking tabloid photos," said Tenten. Ino sighed and propped her chin on her hands.

Sakura groused as she put in the dozen written reports about sightings and locations. "If he'd taken a little longer..."

"Well we couldn't have put out the "Shinobi Scandal" debut issue when he was grieving, could we?" Ino asked. "Tsunade-sama would've stomped us flat, and then our senseis would stomp our stomped remains. And then our parents would burn the red greasy smears-"

"Ino, we get it. It would've been bad to do that." Sakura and Tenten looked mournfully at their first and aborted attempt to get a proper paparazzi culture flourishing. "Ah well... back to the drawing board. Who else we got, Tenten?"

"Shikamaru and Temari... Shikamaru and Ino, that should be easy...Sasuke and every other genin available...Neji and me _what the hey_?! Sakura, you evil..."

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A/N: alright, I had to end it, it was becoming soap opera-ish. It started simply enough, but that's what happens when the characters have minds of their own.

Thanks for reading all the way, you've been remarkably patient! Reviews welcome

Next piece will probably be a shorter tale focusing on Hinata.


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